Although there is a wide variety of issues that can afflict your oral health, one problem can exacerbate every other dental issue—fear of the dentist, or dental phobia. The mildest form of tooth decay, for example, can blossom into a destructive infection that threatens your entire oral health when the problem is neglected long enough. Luckily, advancements in dentistry include ways to alleviate dental anxiety and allow you to seek the oral health care you need. Today, we explain how fear can be your oral health’s worst enemy, and how sedation can help you overcome it.

Why Dental Diseases Can’t Wait

Tooth decay, gum disease, and other dental afflictions are progressive. Once developed, all they need to grow worse is for you to do nothing. For example, with tooth decay, once the infection sets in, the decay eats away at your tooth structure. Eventually, it will reach the center of your tooth, where nerves and blood vessels are housed in a mass of tissue called dental pulp. Unchecked decay kills this tissue, and can spread beyond the tooth if not treated promptly.

Gum disease, which starts with bacteria along your gum line, works to destroy the gum tissue and jawbone that support your teeth. It is so effective at this destruction that gum disease, which affects 80% of adults in America, is the number one cause of permanent tooth loss. Treating gum disease early helps prevent tooth loss and jawbone deterioration. It also decreases your risk of certain systemic illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and many others.

The Dental Benefits of Sedation

Unlike sedation, anesthesia helps minimize and eliminate pain during dental procedures, and has helped countless patients receive critical dental work with minimal discomfort. By contrast, dental sedation can help you relax and relieve the anxiety that hinders patients with dental phobias With the consequences that dental phobias can have on your oral health, anxiety is as much a consideration as discomfort, and sedation may be vital to maintaining your healthy smile.