At this time, masks, distancing, and screening for COVID-19 will continue to be required at our office, even for people who have been fully vaccinated. As a Dental Office with vulnerable patients, we're continuing these requirements in alignment with recommendations from the CDC and public health authorities. Our top priority is the safety of our patients, staff, and community.
YELLOWSTONE
FAMILY DENTISTRY
CHRISTOPHER M. LIM, DDS
ROBIN G. SAUNDERS, DDS
Sleep Dentistry
Controlling patient pain and anxiety at Yellowstone Family Dentistry is a primary concern for our dentists. Analgesics, such as novocaine or xylocaine, applied either to surface areas or via injections, usually allow most patients to experience painless dentistry. This form of pain management has the least amount of risk, as the patient remains fully conscious.
Sedation Dentistry: Ensuring a Comfortable Procedure
For certain procedures or patients, however, some form of sedation is necessary to ensure comfort during treatment. Perhaps you just do not want to even hear the sounds of a dental procedure. Built-up anxiety may make it difficult for you to consider any type of dentistry. Some of our clients have suffered ongoing dental problems, which only get worse with time, because they could not even begin to contemplate making an appointment with a dentist.
Please be assured – many of our clients have experienced the satisfaction that comes from conscious or oral sedation. In the process, they have dealt with long-standing dental problems. Others have been helped by sedation dentistry to start seeing a dentist again on a regular basis — the best thing possible for maintaining your teeth and your overall health.
Oral sedation is…
· Less invasive – there is no need for intravenous injections or artificial breathing;
· Less expensive than other forms of sedation;
· Less debilitating – the recovery from oral sedation is usually much quicker than from deep sedation.
Sedation Dentistry Process
Popularly called “sleep dentistry” or “sedation dentistry,” conscious or oral sedation at the Yellowstone Family Dentistry starts by simply swallowing a pill. Patients breathe independently and respond to verbal commands from the dentist. Although you are conscious, you may recall little of the procedure itself. You recover quickly, but you should have a chaperone to bring you home after the procedure.
​
If You Need a Quick Recovery Period
For patients who need to “go solo” for the ride home, Chico Dentistry also offers a time-tested method of sedation dentistry — nitrous oxide, known as “laughing gas.” Nitrous oxide cures your fears and anxieties, while dissipating quickly from the body. After a short recovery period in our office, you may safely drive yourself wherever you need to go.
Sedation Dentistry Safety
At the Yellowstone Family Dentistry, rest assured that our first concern is for patient safety and comfort during the use of analgesics and sedatives. With a mix of both recent and tested techniques, we can assure you that your trip to our chair will be both pain and anxiety free. Make an appointment with one of our Chico dentists today!
​