Reducing Oral Surgery Pain and Anxiety in Costa Rica

Many people suffer panic and pain with relation to everything that has to do with dental treatment, but this should not be the case this new millennium and in an era of dental tourism in Costa Rica.

If there is a branch of health sciences that has made progress in the field of reducing pain and anxiety, itr is precisely dentistry.

As a premier practice that caters to dental tourists in Costa Rica, the Flikier Institute of Dental Rehabilitation is very interested in reducing pain and anxiety during dental surgery, which happens to be conducted frequently on patients from North America and Europe.

Pre-medication and intravenous sedation are innovative techniques for treatment and dental surgeries, and now they are available to all patients as they are performed in clinics and not in hospitals, thus reducing costs and reducing the possible complications of general anesthesia, and so patients can also avoid the typical anxiety that makes them upset.

And how do these techniques work? It is very simple: During the consultation stage at the Flikier Institute, we always watch for signs of anxiety; if we detect it, we provide options, which may be as simple as taking a pill that induces sleep two hours before surgery. In this fashion, our patients are free from anxiety and under mild sedation during the procedure.

When sedation is accomplished by pre-medication, there is also some level of pain management inflammation being performed in advance. With this technique, the postoperative period is more comfortable and less likely to feature pain as a normal inflammatory response after surgery.

We want our patients, particularly medical tourists, to return quickly to their everyday life while reducing the convalescent period. We also want to limiti complications such as difficulty opening the mouth, difficulty in food intake, complications with oral hygiene, etc.

Intravenous sedation is completely different; the patient may undergo a clinical procedure alone or with a companion, but there must be some preparation with regard to special diets and comfortable clothes being worn. On the whole, intravenous sedation is very safe and does not require hospitalization.

When it comes to sedation, the dental professionals at the Flikier Institute undergo special training on the sedative agents that induce sleep and control pain. In this state, our patients may be drowsy but conscious, so that as we work they can sleep pleasantly without pain. At the end of the procedure, the anesthesia wears off without retrograde amnesia and this is without a doubt one of the most spectacular advantages because it breaks the cycle of anxiety when visiting the dentist.

Dental tourism, in general, is not expected to be an unpleasant experience. To this effect, our patients can be more demanding in relation to pain and anxiety. Dental tourism is naturally less intimidating than regular dentistry, and this is something that the Flikier Institute understands happens because tourists who choose to get comprehensive restoration work in Costa Rica typically begin to plan their trip weeks and even months in advance; this entails telephone conversations and email correspondence with dental health professionals.

By the time patients arrive in Costa Rica and check-in at the Flikier Institute, they have already built a long distance rapport that they are pleased to affirm by finally meeting the team members who help them. This results in a major reduction of anxiety.