Patients with Severe Gag Reflex

If you have a sensitive or severe gag reflex, you may find it difficult to get the dental care you need. It is necessary to allow instruments and tools inside of your mouth to maintain your teeth and gums, which can be difficult if you are prone to gagging. At Sapphire Creek Dental in New Braunfels, TX, we can help our patients with sensitivities to dental care get the treatments they need. We welcome patients with a severe gag reflex and offer solutions to ensure they receive dental care to maintain a healthy smile.

Everyone has a gag reflex, but some people are more sensitive than others. This can be a physical or mental condition, or a little of both. In some cases, patients can find ways to relax and concentrate on something else to minimize their gag reflex. We offer comfortable dental chairs with neck pillows, weighted blankets and a TV on the ceiling with headphones for our patients. Just relaxing and watching a show on Netflix during dental treatments can be enough for some people with a sensitive gag reflex to relax. Others find sitting up and focusing on breathing through their nose is beneficial. For others, sedation dentistry is the best option.

Sedation Options for Overactive Gag Reflex

If techniques to reduce a severe gag reflex are ineffective, sedation during dental treatments may be a solution. We offer nitrous oxide for a mild sedation option to relax patients during dental treatments. We also offer moderate and IV sedation for more severe cases of anxiety or gagging response during dental care. Sedation can help make dental treatments easier for the patient with a gag reflex and help reduce the time needed to perform dental care.

If you avoid dental care due to a severe gag reflex, you could be jeopardizing your oral health and smile. Come see us at Sapphire Creek Dental in New Braunfels, TX. We can help find a comfortable solution for our patients with sensitive or overactive gag reflexes.