Sedation Dentistry Essay

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Sedation dentistry, alternatively called relaxation dentistry or oral sedation dentistry, is a process of delivering oral medication or a combination of medications in order to induce a heightened state of relaxation. Sedation dentistry puts the patient at ease, reduces or eliminates fears, relaxes both the mind and the body, and often produces moderate amnesia of the subsequent dental work performed. It is estimated that one in seven people harbor deep phobic fears of dentistry. For many, those fears keep them from stepping inside a dentist's office, sometimes for years and to the detriment of their quality of life. Sedation dentistry is often seen as the answer to their prayers, not only because it delivers pain-free dentistry but because …show more content…

She is originally from Russia and though her command of the English language is excellent, she occasionally sends me some of her papers so I can look them over. Recently I received a paper titled: "Traditional Chinese Tongue Diagnosis." It was an examination of some of the methods the ancient Chinese used to diagnosis disease by looking at the surface texture, color, and general appearance of the tongue. I'm not sure whether studying this was part of the curriculum or an assignment that she came up with on her own, but it did strike me as a little unusual. Now new evidence suggests that looking in the mouth to diagnosis and find the cause of disease in other parts of the body may not be so farfetched after all. One thing for certain is that the face of modern dentistry is changing, and some of it is a realization that some of the things that were considered "alternative" in the past are now becoming more mainstream. Take the "mercury debate" for example. That one has been going on among dentists and research scientists for the past 150 years. But before the late nineties, there was no mention of the topic in dental school, nor was it in any of the dental journals. Today, the sensitivity to mercury is still being debated, but newer, safer materials are being developed and used. We know that mercury is bad to have in your system, but how much? And how much do you get from fillings in your teeth and how much from

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