[미디어파인 전문칼럼] As dental treatment technology continues to develop, people’s happiness and expectations increase, but on the other hand, there are many cases of patients who continue to postpone implant treatment even if they are missing natural teeth.
There are various reasons, but most of them are dental phobia. Dental phobia refers to extreme anxiety and fear regarding dental treatment and visiting the dentist. Some perceptions and traumas imprinted by the dentist remain or become stronger over time, leading to reluctance to visit the dentist.
In particular, the pain experienced when visiting the dentist in childhood and the memory of a painful dental treatment can make people hesitate to visit the dentist even as adults and, in severe cases, can turn into odontophobia. However, to keep your teeth healthy, it is essential to visit the dentist regularly to check the condition of your teeth and treat them before they develop into more serious dental diseases.
Conscious sedation is a treatment method for patients with fear of dental treatment or dental phobia. This surgical method, commonly called sleep therapy, stabilizes the patient’s mind and body, reduces anxiety, induces a comfortable state, and induces a sleep-like state while maintaining complete consciousness. In this state the patient is slightly conscious and breathing on his own, but becomes insensitive to stimuli such as pain or unpleasant sounds that occur during dental treatment.
This way the treatment can be completed quickly as involuntary movements during the treatment are reduced, which is advantageous because not only the patient but also the specialist can concentrate comfortably on the procedure. Additionally, procedures that may require a long treatment period can be completed more quickly and safely as concentration increases. This improves the dental experience and allows patients to resolve or reduce their resistance to future treatments.
This is especially useful for patients undergoing implant treatment, root canal treatment for severely advanced tooth decay, hypertension or diabetes, who are at risk of increased blood pressure.
As the fear of the dentist grows, it turns into odontophobia. In this case, people become reluctant to visit the dentist and may not be aware that their dental health is deteriorating. Conscious sedation therapy can reduce such trauma and is very useful in implant procedures, which can increase patient burden due to long procedure times (Director Jeong Myeong-jin, Dangjin Guardians Dental Clinic)
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