15 Aug It’s ok to be anxious about dental implants in North London

If you read up on dental implant surgery on the internet, you will find article after article telling you that this is a simple operation in a part of your face that does not have many nerve endings and it doesn’t hurt very much. What we know at Dental Beauty Islington, is that, very often, people who want dental implants in North London are pretty daunted by the idea of what they have to undergo in order to get them fitted.

In North London, dental implants require surgery that involves cutting open the gum and then drilling an artificial socket into the jawbone. The jawbone doesn’t have as many nerve endings as the teeth, which is why, pain-wise all it really needs is a local anaesthetic to adequately numb the area. However, the drilling requires several goes, as the dentist has to start off with a narrow drill bit and then widen the hole a couple of times. It’s done like this so as not to crack the bone. In a simple insertion procedure, dental implants in North London take about an hour to put in place.

An hour can be a very long time in the dentist’s chair, and it’s no wonder that people baulk at the idea of any treatment that has them at their most vulnerable, lying back with their mouths open, that is going to take an hour. That’s why at Dental Beauty Islington, we make a point of offering anxious patients dental sedation treatment for implants.

Oral sedation

Oral sedation comes in tablet form. You take it on the morning of your treatment, before you leave home. Halcion, a member of the Valium family, takes about an hour to kick in. It will make you groggy and you may even fall asleep, but can be awoken with a gentle shake of the arm. Oral sedation is lighter than intravenous sedation.

Intravenous sedation

This goes straight into your bloodstream, either through the back of your hand or into your arm, and the levels can be adjusted throughout treatment. Once again, you may fall asleep, but can be easily awoken and able to understand and communicate.