Obese patients often don’t go to the dentist until it’s an absolute emergency.
In this situation, local sedation like lidocaine or moderate sedation like laughing gas is used to treat obese patients. While these two methods are usually safe for obese patients, sometimes they’re not effective enough.
Obese patients, like other patients, often suffer from anxiety when going to the dentist. And if you need a lot of work done, lidocaine or laughing gas might not be enough to make sure you have a comfortable experience. General anesthesia is the next option.
The problem is most dentists are unable or unwilling to give general anesthesia to patients who have low body-mass indices. They’re even more unwilling to give general anesthesia to an obese patient. That’s because general anesthesia can be dangerous for obese patients.
In these situations, you need to find a special-needs dentist like Believe Dental.
At Believe Dental, we use all levels of sedation, including general anesthesia.
Prior to going under, both the dentist and the anesthesiologist will examine you to make sure you can handle general anesthesia.
At Believe Dental, we give general anesthesia as a gas. In case a medical emergency occurs while sedated, it’ll be easier to wake you up compared to IV sedation. But while sedated, both an anesthesiologist and an anesthesia tech will fully monitor you. Most dental offices don’t have an anesthesiologist on staff.
Call Believe Dental. We have offices in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, or fill out this form to schedule an appointment. We can help you get the oral care you deserve and make sure your dental experience is as comfortable as possible.