When inhaled, this gas causes you to relax—you won’t be asleep, as you will be able to hear and respond to your dentist’s requests, but you will be in a calmer frame of mind.

Not only does nitrous oxide relax you, but it also minimizes pain during your treatment and causes a sense of euphoria, which, for some, makes their dental experience much more enjoyable. With this mode of sedation, you can go to the office and go home by yourself—not requiring that a family member or a friend accompany you, as would be needed with other modes of sedation.

When your dentist suggests that you be considered for intravenous sedation it is either because you are very nervous, your dental procedure could be long and uncomfortable, or you may have a pre-existing medical condition and it would be safer being treated under sedation.

Intravenous sedation or “conscious sedation” is achieved by using a mixture of drugs which will make you very sleepy and relaxed and you may not remember anything about the procedure. It is NOT a general anesthetic and you will NOT be unconscious. You will be able to speak to your dentist throughout the procedure, although you may not remember much.

There are several areas of your mouth which are difficult to see and treat with the naked eye. A specialized microscope is considered the best tool to thoroughly visualize dental anatomy that is not easily seen without magnification.

The main advantage of a dental microscope is that it enables dentists to see things that they would not be able to distinguish with the naked eye, along with increasing accuracy and optimizing performance.

Computed tomography imaging—or as it is more familiarly known, a CT scan—is a technology that we at Hitomi Dental Office have used at our Akasaka Office since we opened. Because it has proved an invaluable tool in diagnosing and treating our patients—especially in situations when X-rays are not sufficient—we recently started offering this technology at our Edogawabashi Office.

Using 3D imaging, CT scans show detailed views of dental structures, soft tissue, nerve paths and bone in a single image. Better diagnoses result in better treatments, and when we have a more complete and detailed image of dental problems the resulting treatment has a better chance of success.