Welcome to the pain-free dentistry section at 76 Harley Street in London’s W1 district. Our state of the art clinic offers a serenity within the busy city to feel relaxed and comfortable whilst visiting your dentist.
Nervous Patients
We really don’t want to be unkind to our patients.
The most important thing to say is that all our dentists and our hygienist are nice, kind, gentle people who are dedicated to carrying out treatment without pain or discomfort.
Local Anaesthetic For Pain-Free Dentistry
Effective ‘local anaesthesia’ (injection) is always given to numb the teeth when there is any chance at all that treatment would otherwise cause discomfort.
However for people who have had bad dental experiences in the past, a verbal reassurance that “this time it won’t hurt” is often not nearly enough. Many people fit into this category for many and different reasons. Sometimes it was an unkind and unfeeling dentist in the past causing pain during treatment, sometimes it is more of an indefinable “I just hate dental treatment”. Whatever the reason, we can make sure your treatment is pain-free, and in time you will come to like dentists a little more.
Sedation For Nervous Dental Patients
Sedation can be given either intravenously by injection or by inhalation.
Intravenous Sedation
A very good way of over-coming past fears is by having some ‘sedation*’, which makes you sleepy, relaxed and unaware of most of the treatment while it is being carried out.
It is a sedative, not a general anaesthetic. The technique is very safe as you keep your safety reflexes, such as your cough reflex. Patients often feel that they have been asleep during the treatment, but in fact they are still be awake and we are able to communicate with them as necessary.
A further benefit of the sedation is that time seems to pass much more quickly – a 2 hour session can seem like half an hour at most.
It is essential for patients to have an escort to take them home and be responsible for their safety afterwards, as one’s judgement is affected.
Once the sedation has started to take effect, we can then give the normal injections to numb the teeth.
(*‘Midazolam’ given intravenously by injection).
Inhalation Sedation
We use inhalation sedation more for children than adults. It gives a very good light effect. Children who try if usually like it very much as it helps them to relax and accept the treatment without distress. It is administered through a tube held near to the nose, and is not at all scary.
Treatment with our hygienist
Some people say that they dislike having their teeth scaled more than treatment with a dentist. Please be assured that Abi Ball, our hygienist, is also very gentle, and will give local injections to numb the teeth whenever her treatment might be causing discomfort.
