Yes you can. People are so frightened of the dentist that many avoid dental treatment altogether. There is no need to do that anymore, modern dentists are sympathetic and in recognising that some patients experience real anxiety, they have developed new techniques and approaches to help.

Many dentists actually specifically promote their treatment methods for anxious patients. Modern dentistry is very customer focused and as such, a range of sedation and relaxation techniques have been developed to help anxious patients overcome their fears.

If you would like to notify us that you may have Dental Anxiety, please contact us and we can make special arrangments for your treatment.

Sedation is an effective way to treat nervous patients and can help them feel more comfortable about their treatment. It is done via intravenous sedation (injection) and has a relaxing and calming effect on the patient.

Do not worry, it does not prevent communication between the dentist and patient so treatment can still be carried out safely and easily.

Weight, age and medical condition must be assessed before suitability for this kind of sedation is determined but this would all be discussed during the consultation with the dentist. Although we do not offer this service, we are able to refer our patients to a specialist clinic for this treatment.

Whilst IV sedation will make you drowsy and unaware of the treatment you are undergoing, you will remain lucid enough to communicate and cooperate with the dental team.

The effects of the sedative will take time to wear off and you won’t be able to drink alcohol, drive or work machinery during this time so it is important that someone can help you home after treatment and keep a careful eye on you for sometime afterwards.

Your dentist will inform you of how long it will be before the drugs are completely clear from your body and you can return to normal day to day activities.

You can be helped to feel relaxed by ‘relative analgesia’ sometimes known as inhalation sedation.

This means breathing in a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen (‘laughing gas’) which quickly leads to a pleasant, relaxed feeling. At the same time, your dentist puts you at ease through calming speech. Although you may feel a little drowsy, you will remain conscious throughout. However although conscious, any treatment given will cause you no discomfort.

You breathe in the mixture through a nosepiece which is a comfortable method. For reaasurance, we would like to inform you that you cannot overdose on the gas, as the mixture quickly leaves your body if you breathe in one or two breaths of ordinary air. There are no after-effects and you are able to drive a car about 15 minutes later. Many dentists use this safe and effective technique.

We believe it is highly likely!

As you get to know and trust your dentist and the team at Angel Hill Dentistry, your fears of dental treatment will diminish knowing full well that we have your complete interest at heart.