Dental implants require oral surgery for placement, and can offer long-lasting replacement for one or multiple missing teeth, and even support dentures! Since this involves surgery, we will offer more than just local anesthesia. In today’s blog, your Santa Rosa, CA, oral surgeons talk about dental sedation.
The Placement of Dental Implants
Dental implants are unique among prosthetics because they aren’t held in place with crowns or clasps and suction. Instead, we actually insert a biocompatible titanium post into the jawbone. This bonds with the bone tissue through a process known as osseointegration, securing them like tooth roots. This prevents a breakdown in jaw structure and allows them to last for decades to come. We plan and guide the process with advanced digital technology, choosing the right position and angle to stimulate the growth of jawbone tissue and support a crown or even a full set of dentures. You can enjoy a lifetime of full and natural-looking smiles!
Dental Sedation
With dental sedation, we will help ensure you remain calm and comfortable throughout the process, so your experience is an enjoyable one. We start with discussions about dental anxiety, as well as your medical history. We use this and other factors to choose the most appropriate calming option for you. For some, we could discuss nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, which is administered through a mask over the nose. This helps you enter a calm state, with effects wearing off once the procedure ends. You can even drive yourself home in many cases! For more substantial calming, we could recommend oral sedation, taken in pill or liquid form before the procedure, or IV. A trained anesthesiologist will be on hand through the process to monitor you, and our team has had experience in hospital settings with sedation. The effects will take time to wear off, so a friend or family member will need to be on hand to take you home. You will have little to no memory of the procedure.
Your New Smile
Once the placement area heals, we will attach abutments that extend above the gum line. We then affix a crown to them to complete. But with dentures, we can often insert the posts and attach the prosthetic in the same visit, so you leave with a full and complete smile. Even if you’ve lost jawbone strength, we could use options like All-On-Four to provide a full smile in one sitting, without first undergoing grafting or sinus lifts.
Do You Have Questions About Anesthesia?
Our team wants to make sure every visit is a comfortable one. To learn more about keeping your comfort during treatment, then schedule a consultation by calling Santa Rosa Oral Surgery in Santa Rosa, CA, today at 707-545-4625.