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i wanna be sedated Facing dental phobia with pills d

A growing number of people are being consciously sedated before sitting in the dentist's chair

By JESSICA SCHONBERG

Date published: 7/16/2006

olores Mattox's teeth had gotten so bad, she was considering having them all pulled.

The 57-year-old Stafford County resident was so afraid of the dentist that she'd let her teeth completely deteriorate. She thought the easiest way to deal with it might be to have all of her teeth removed and get dentures.

But Mattox discovered a growing trend in dentistry--conscious sedation--before she hit the dentist chair. And now she has a mouthful of shining white teeth to show for it.

To put patients in a state of conscious sedation, dentists administer incremental doses of benzodiazepines. The drugs put patients in a sleeplike state while actually keeping them awake.

The patients' heart rates and blood pressure are monitored throughout the procedure.

While they're sedated, patients are extremely relaxed and unaware of the pain associated with the dental procedure. But they aren't knocked out as with general anesthesia. Though they likely won't remember doing it, they are able to respond to the dentist and answer questions.

Mattox said that before she discovered conscious sedation, she hadn't been to a dentist in 15 to 20 years and had had her teeth cleaned only twice. She said she has been scared of the dentist since she was a child.

"I think it started with the first time I got a tooth pulled," she said. That was when she was 10 years old.

It was a bad toothache about a year ago that caused her to make an appointment with Dr. Michael Schulte of Stafford Dental Cosmetic Center.

Mattox said she was petrified to have any work done.

"I told them, I said, 'I can't do this, I am too afraid to do this, I can't do it,' and they told me about the sedation dentistry," Mattox said.

After learning how it works, Mattox decided to use the method to go through with her wish for a complete dental makeover, instead of having all her teeth pulled and replaced with dentures.

She ended up seeing Schulte more than 10 times for visits lasting up to six hours.

Mattox spent about $23,000 for her dental work, including getting multiple veneers, having three teeth pulled and having a bridge and partial denture put in.

The first time through it I was very apprehensive because I didn't know what to expect. I was not afraid of pain, but I didn't know, am I going to be telling all the family secrets?

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Date published: 7/16/2006