Comfort & Wellness Dentistry
At Austin Institute of Dental Medicine, we understand that dental anxiety, jaw pain, and sleep-related breathing disorders can significantly impact your quality of life. Our approach to dentistry embraces your comfort and overall well-being as something we can help with.
If you are ready for a relaxing dental visit or need help improving your overall wellness with sleep apnea and TMJ care, contact AIDM for a comfortable appointment at our office.
Three Ways to Enhance Your Wellness, All Under One Roof
Sedation dentistry can help you achieve dental procedures that may otherwise be difficult for you to participate in, whether that be a simple cleaning or a full mouth rehabilitation. We use dental sedation to help you feel well at the dentist, but also for you to achieve wellness by visiting the dentist instead of avoiding it due to dental anxiety.
TMJ/TMD treatment can reduce pain in your everyday life, whether it be headaches or jaw pain caused by TMJ dysfunction. As we reduce inflammation and pain we can help your body feel better and function better.
Sleep apnea treatment helps treat your sleep, which is an essential part of your wellness. Improving your sleep can improve your mental health, your physical wellbeing, and preserve your oral wellness as well.
Sedation Dentistry
For patients with dental anxiety or those undergoing complex procedures, we offer various sedation options to ensure a comfortable, stress-free experience. Our team is specially trained in sedation protocols and uses advanced monitoring equipment to ensure your safety throughout your treatment.
We offer several different types of dental sedation. On top of our regular sedation offered in our dental office, we offer hospital dentistry with general anesthesia for complex cases or those with special needs.
Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas)
This mild sedative is administered through a comfortable nose mask and helps you relax while remaining fully conscious. Effects wear off quickly, allowing you to drive yourself home after your appointment.
• Ideal for mild to moderate anxiety
• Takes effect within minutes
• Adjustable level of sedation during treatment
• No lingering effects after treatment
Oral Conscious Sedation
For deeper relaxation, oral sedation involves taking a prescribed medication before your appointment. You’ll remain conscious but deeply relaxed, with limited memory of the procedure afterward.
• Effective for moderate to severe anxiety
• Allows multiple procedures to be completed in one visit
• You’ll need someone to drive you to and from your appointment
• Effects gradually wear off over several hours
IV Sedation
Administered by our specially trained doctors, IV sedation provides a deep state of relaxation while maintaining safety. This option is ideal for patients with severe anxiety or those undergoing extensive treatment.
• Produces a twilight sleep state
• Medication administered directly into the bloodstream
• Continuous monitoring of vital signs
• Little to no memory of the procedure
• Faster onset and more precise control than oral sedation
The Benefits of Dental Sedation
Dental sedation makes it easier for patients to receive the care they need in a calm and comfortable environment. By easing anxiety and minimizing discomfort, sedation allows even complex treatments to feel manageable, helping patients remain relaxed throughout their visit.
Comfort from dental sedation not only enhances the experience itself but also supports better overall wellness—when fear no longer stands in the way, patients can complete necessary dental treatments that improve their oral health, confidence, and quality of life.
TMJ Disorders & Bite Appliances
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders can cause jaw pain, headaches, and difficulty chewing. We offer comprehensive diagnosis and treatment options, including:
- CUSTOM NIGHT GUARDS: Precisely fitted appliances to protect teeth from grinding and clenching during sleep
- OCCLUSAL SPLINTS: Specialized devices to reposition the jaw and relieve TMJ stress
- BITE ANALYSIS: Digital evaluation of your bite to identify imbalances contributing to TMJ issues
- THERAPEUTIC EXERCISES: Specific jaw exercises to strengthen muscles and improve function
- COLLABORATIVE CARE: Coordination with physical therapists and pain specialists when needed
- TRIGGER POINT THERAPY: Trigger point therapy is a massage, dry needling, or targeted treatments to an area of tight muscles around or connected to the jaw.
- BOTOX: Botox can be used to lessen the clenching and movement of your TMJ to decrease pain and wear.
The Benefits of Treating Your TMJ Disorder
TMJ treatment is about more than relieving jaw pain. It’s about restoring balance and comfort to your daily life. When the jaw joints function properly, patients often experience improved comfort while eating, speaking, and even sleeping. By addressing issues like chronic tension, headaches, and facial discomfort, TMJ therapy can reduce strain throughout the head, neck, and shoulders.
Beyond these physical improvements, many patients notice a renewed sense of wellness as pain and stress subside.
Snoring & Sleep Apnea Treatment
Sleep-disordered breathing can significantly impact your health and quality of life. We work closely with sleep physicians to provide oral appliance therapy for patients diagnosed with snoring or mild to moderate sleep apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP therapy.
Oral Appliance Therapy
Our custom-made oral appliances gently reposition the lower jaw during sleep, keeping the airway open and reducing or eliminating snoring and sleep apnea symptoms. Benefits include:
Our Other Sleep Apnea Treatments
Besides oral appliances, we offer several treatment solutions to give you the most effective sleep treatment possible:
We may combine treatments to give you better rest. We determine our recommendations based on the root cause of your sleep apnea, the severity of your sleep apnea, age, physical health factors, and more.
Why Choose a Dentist for Wellness Care?
We understand the mouth is connected to all of your body, and that how well your mouth works impacts how well your body works. We work to help your mouth function with customized approaches that a regular doctor may not be able to offer. Our wide range of treatments focused on your TMJ and sleep apnea are targeted to your specific issues, all while improving how your entire body feels.
Our dental technology also helps us diagnose and treat your wellness concerns in an efficient and comfortable way. General care doctors do not all have facial scanners that can analyze your bite and airway or take digital impressions.
Trust someone who knows your smile to help you treat your smile and airway-related concerns.
Enhance Your Wellness At AIDM
We are more than a dental office. We are a clinic dedicated to helping your life improve, whether that be lessening pain or improving sleep. If you are ready for TMJ treatment, sleep apnea care, or sedation dentistry for any appointment, you can contact us for a consultation today.
