Two steps vertigo sufferers should take before having any dental treatments
Posted on: 8 April 2020
When you have vertigo, undergoing dental treatment is not always as straightforward as it is for other people. If you're in this situation, the tips offered here might be useful to you.
Discuss your condition with the dentist before you sit down in the dental chair
Before you sit down in the dental chair at the clinic, you should discuss your condition with the dentist. During your chat, you should briefly explain how the condition affects you and what things can trigger an episode of vertigo for you. The reason for this is as follows; many vertigo sufferers have benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).
Episodes of BPPV are often triggered by doing things such as lying in a horizontal position, moving into a seated position after lying down or by looking upward. These are all things that you might end up doing whilst you're in the dental chair and undergoing treatment as the dentist may need to tilt your chair so far back that you are almost lying flat and will then need to adjust the chair so that you're sitting upright after they're finished and you need to get up from the chair.
As such, if you have this particular type of vertigo and you know that these movements often result in you having an episode, you should ensure that the dentist is aware of this. Having this information will mean that the dentist will be more cautious about tilting the chair back and will only do this if absolutely necessary. It will also ensure that they know that they need to stop the dental treatment immediately if you make a certain hand gesture or say a certain word that indicates that you're getting dizzy. This means that you won't have to try to explain, in great detail, what's happening whilst you're experiencing extreme dizziness and are on the verge of vomiting.
Ensure that you have enough vertigo medication with you before you go for your dental treatment
A few days before you are due to get the dental treatment done, you should ask your GP for a prescription of any vertigo medication that you usually take when you have an episode and then ensure that you stow a dose of this medication in your pocket or bag when you go to the dental appointment.
Having this on hand will mean that if you do have an episode of vertigo whilst you're in the midst of receiving treatment, you can stop, take this medication, wait a little while for it to take effect and then let the dentist finish the rest of the dental work. Conversely, if you forget to refill your prescription or to bring the medication with you, and you have an episode, you might have to go home and have the rest of the dental work done some other time.
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