An anxious patient

[Ela1]

Hello

I have neglected my teeth and not seen a dentist in several years. Partly for financial reasons and partly due to being an anxious patient in the dental chair. Whenever I sit on a dental chair I become uneasy and start having palpitations and even occasionally start to shake. I have tried to calm my self down by having sedative drugs prescribed to me by my GP and although they help me to get into the dental chair, I find it hard to actually have any dental treatment. I have been told by my dentist that I need several fillings that should be done urgently. Can you advise if these fillings can be done under deep sedation? I am mildly asthmatic, can I still have deep iv sedation?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

Deep multi-drug IV sedation works very well to sedate even the most anxious of patients. Its adminstered by an experienced specialist anaesthetist and so having mild asthma will not pose any problems at all. You can certainly have fillings carried out under IV sedation free of any anxiety.