Gag reflex?

This involves giving you a sedative medicine through a vein in your arm or hand. The sedative makes you feel deeply relaxed.. You will be able to talk and cooperate with your dental team, but most people cannot remember much about their treatment. IV sedation is proven to help patients and dentists achieve good working conditions as the sedation acts as a muscle relaxant and suppresses your gag reflex from being overly sensitive. 

Inhalation sedation is a good option for patients who have a mild gag reflex and require simple treatments. This involves breathing a mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide through a special nosepiece. It gives you a pleasant, relaxed feeling and reduces the tendency to gag. The dental team will talk to you at the same time in a calm and reassuring way. Most people feel warm, floaty and tingly. At the end of the procedure, you will be given pure oxygen for a couple of minutes and you will recover very quickly. There are no after-effects and most people can drive or return to work the same day. This technique is good for mildly to moderately anxious people who are able to breathe through their nose. 

This is a tablet taken that your dentist prescribes. You will be instructed to take the medication either the night before and/or an hour before the procedure begins. Oral premedication does not sedate you or put you to sleep but helps with anxiety and promotes relaxation. You will still be required to have a chaperone and need 24 hours off work with oral premedication. 

Clinical hypnotherapy and CBT can aid to provide long-term management of a hypersensitive gag reflex and other dental anxieties. It will aid to make future dental work easier and can be used both with and without sedation. Combining therapy with other means of sedation will help put you on the right track for better oral health if you struggle with dental treatment.