Dental Anxiety Services

Oral Anti-Anxiety Medication

Most commonly, oral sedation is prescribed in the form of anti-anxiety pills for relieving anxiety in the hours leading up to your dental appointment. An anti-anxiety or a sleeping pill taken the night before the appointment, at least one hour before going to bed, can help with falling asleep and getting some rest.

In dentistry, the most commonly prescribed drugs to help combat anxiety belong to the “benzodiazepine” family. These include Valium, Halcion, Xanax, and Ativan. They decrease anxiety by binding with receptors in the brain which tone down activity in those parts of the brain responsible for fear.

While all benzodiazepines act as sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs, some are more targeted at brain areas which control sleep and wakefulness, while others are more specifically targeted at brain areas which control emotions such as fear. The classification of whether a benzodiazepine is sedative-hypnotic or anti-anxiety is to some extent an arbitrary one, as the boundaries are quite fluid. As a rule of thumb, in higher doses benzos act like sedatives and may promote sleep, while in lower doses, they simply reduce anxiety. If dental anxiety is a problem that is preventing you from receiving regular dental care, Dr. Cohen encourages you to call his office at Beacon Hill Dental Associates to learn about how you can cope with these fears with medication or coaching.
 

Therapy Dogs for Reducing Dental Anxiety

A therapy dog is a dog specially trained to provide affection and comfort to people in stressful situations, including medical settings. Therapy dogs come in all sizes and breeds, and people often think of gentle Golden Retrievers as the best type of therapy dog. The most important characteristic of a therapy dog is its temperament. A good therapy dog must be friendly, patient, confident, gentle, and at ease in all situations, even when the person patting them is exhibiting signs of extreme stress. Therapy dogs must enjoy human contact and be content to be petted and handled.

A therapy dog's primary job is to allow unfamiliar people to make physical contact with it and to enjoy that contact. The therapy dog may even need to be lifted onto, or climb onto, an individual's lap or bed and sit or lie comfortably there. Therapy dogs can provide an anti-anxiety atmosphere, which is sometimes a desirable alternative to anti-anxiety medication for specific situations, such as a visit to the dentist.