If the thought of a dental visit makes your stomach drop, you are not alone, and you are not a problem patient. Sedation dentistry lets you get the care you have been putting off while feeling calm and relaxed. Dr. Chelsea Mason offers nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and oral conscious sedation, and she will match the option to your level of anxiety and the work being done.
Tell us you are nervous when you book. We will plan around it. Call or text (989) 686-6110.
Nitrous oxide takes the edge off and wears off before you leave, so you can drive yourself. Oral sedation is a pill taken before your visit for deeper relaxation; you will need a ride home. Both are combined with local anesthetic so you feel no pain.
Your oral health affects your overall well-being and goes far beyond just the teeth and gums. Dr. Chelsea Mason takes an integrative approach to understanding dental health and its connection to overall health. Today, dental health can no longer be considered or treated in isolation from the rest of the body.
Many of our sedation patients had not seen a dentist in five or ten years. Nobody here will lecture you about it. Dr. Mason reviews your health history, explains exactly what will happen, and can combine several procedures into one sedated visit so you are not coming back over and over. Our in-house periodontist, Dr. William Mason, also uses sedation for gum surgery and implant placement, so bigger cases stay in this building.
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Nitrous oxide is a gas you breathe through a small mask over your nose. You feel calm and a little floaty within minutes, and it clears in about five minutes once the mask comes off, so you can drive yourself home. Oral sedation is a prescription pill taken before your appointment. You are deeply relaxed, drowsy and may remember little of the visit. Because it lingers for hours, an adult needs to drive you there and back.
No. Both options are conscious sedation. You can breathe on your own, respond to questions and follow simple instructions, but you feel relaxed and unbothered. Many oral sedation patients doze and remember very little afterward.
Yes for most healthy adults. Dr. Mason reviews your medical history and current medications first, and you are monitored throughout the visit. Nitrous oxide has been used in dentistry for more than a century and is safe for children and adults. Tell us about any heart, lung or sleep apnea conditions and any medications you take.
Nitrous oxide is a small add-on fee per visit. Oral sedation costs more because it includes the prescription and a longer, monitored appointment. We give you the exact fee before you book, and payment plans are available. Insurance rarely covers sedation itself, though it still covers the dental work being done.
Yes. If a routine cleaning is what has kept you away, nitrous oxide is an easy way to get back in the chair. Just ask for it when you schedule.
Nitrous oxide is available for children who are anxious or have trouble sitting still, and it is very safe at the low levels used in dentistry. Dr. Mason will talk through options with you at your child’s exam.
We provide sedation dentistry services to patients throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region: