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Nitrous oxide is one option your dentist may offer to help make you more comfortable during certain dental procedures. It is a great way for patients to relax during treatment, and when properly administered, the effects wear off quickly enough that the patient can drive themselves home. It is not intended to put you to sleep. You will still be able to hear and respond to any requests or directions the dentist may have. Tooth Suite is pleased to offer patients nitrous oxide as a sedation option.
What is Nitrous Oxide?
Nitrous Oxide, commonly called laughing gas, provides light sedation for anxious patients, or any patient who would benefit from feeling more relaxed during their dental visits. It is a safe and effective sedative administered by breathing in a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, inhaled through a small mask that fits over your nose. It provides light sedation and begins to work quite quickly, usually within a few minutes. You may feel lightheaded or a tingling feeling in your arms and legs. Some people say their arms and legs feel heavy. Ultimately you should feel calm and comfortable. The effects wear off soon after the mask is removed.
What are some advantages of Nitrous Oxide?
- It works rapidly – it reaches the brain within 20 seconds, and realization and pain-killing properties develop after 2-3 minutes
- The depth of sedation can be altered from moment to moment, allowing the person who administers the gas to increase or decrease the depth of sedation. Other sedation techniques do not allow for this.
- There’s no “hangover” effect – the gas is eliminated from the body within 3-5 minutes after the gas is stopped. You can safely drive home and don’t’ need an escort
- For certain procedures – those involving gums rather than teeth (“e.g. deep cleaning), it may be possible to use Nitrous instead of local anesthesia. N2O acts as a painkiller on soft tissues such as gums. However, its pain-relieving effects vary a lot from person to person and cannot be relied upon.
- No injection is required. In cases of very severe needle phobia, getting laughing gas first can help you feel relaxed enough to allow the needle required for IV sedation to be inserted in your arm or hand. The very deep state of sedation achievable through IV sedation will then allow you to accept local anesthetic.
- It is very safe – it has very few side effects and the drugs used have no ill effects on the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain.
- Inhalation Sedation has been found to be effective in eliminating or at least mimicking server gagging.
Have questions about Nitrous Oxide? Call Tooth Suite Family Dentistry
at (780) 875-4312 to schedule your consultation today!
Tooth Suite Family Dentistry has been proudly serving
Lloydminster for over 20 Years!
Disclaimer
Dr. Marianne Stelmaschuk and Dr. Sonia Thibault are Lloydminster General Dentists. They are not specialists in Cosmetic or Family Dentistry. Cosmetic and Family Dentistry are not specialties recognized by the Alberta Dental Association & College of Dental Surgeons of Alberta (CDSA). Our general dentists provide Cosmetic and Family Dental procedures such as Porcelain Veneers, Dental Crowns, Invisalign, and Teeth Whitening as part of their General Dentistry license. As Lloydminster Family Dentists, we provide General Dental procedures for all ages within the family. Dr. Prabhjot Singh is a licensed Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon and can offer Oral Maxillofacial specialty services as part of his license.