Are you worried or feeling anxious about your dental appointment? If you are one of those individuals who gagge when the dentist puts the instrument into your mouth. Nitrous oxide sedation, also known as the laughing gas, works best.
During the dental treatment, you have to sit still, and thus, you must use laughing gas to ensure the safe completion of the treatment. But before digging into its uses and how it works, let’s first know what the laughing gas is.
What is Nitrous Oxide Sedation or Laughing Gas?
Nitrous oxide is one of the soothing agents that help manage the pain and anxiety regarding dental treatment. It’s a mixture of colorless or odorless gas and oxygen that the patients inhale through the mask fixed on their nose.
The dentists ask the patients to inhale the gas and feel the effect of laughing gas within a few minutes. As the name indicates, laughing gas does not make you laugh. Instead, it slows down your nervous system so that you feel less inhibited. You may feel symptoms like,
Heaviness in your arms or legs
Light headed
Tingly
These symptoms make you calm and comfortable throughout your dental procedure, and you may giggle once or twice during the whole procedure. Because of this, it is one of the most influential and secure sedation methods.
Working Scenario of Nitrous Oxide
In dentistry, nitrous oxide sedation is a mild anesthesia that makes you relax during your dental treatment rather than making you fully sleep. It will lead you to undergo successful treatment, and the patient will feel relaxed as soon as he inhales the mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen.
The effect of this gas mixture will start to kick your nervous system within a few minutes, and you will feel relaxed and euphoric. The ultimate result of the gas is the patient will show slow movement or speech ability.
The patients will gradually feel the elimination of nervousness but are conscious enough to react as per instructions. As the effect of the edition starts to fade, the patient will feel nauseous, and thus, dentists supply pure oxygen to the patients as they remove the mask.
Why Use Laughing Gas?
The significant use of the laughing gas is to make the patient feel less stressed and anxiety-free. Dentists highly recommend this gas for various reasons. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the gas is beneficial for cases like,
Patients who require special health care needs
Younger patients whose dental treatment goes for longer
The gas is suitable for patients who have gag reflexes, which often interfere with dental care
Some patients have dentophobia and are more fearful, anxious, and uncooperative
For the patients who do not adequately respond to the local anesthesia
Why Should Not Use Laughing Gas?
We have insight into the usage cases of laughing gas, but there are some reasons why you should not opt for it. Some of the risk factors that force you to avoid using nitrous oxide sedation are,
If the patient has a history of the mental health situation
Highly unfit for those who are in the first trimester of pregnancy
Patients having a history of any substance abuse
If the patient is feeling enzyme condition, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency
In case of having vitamin B-12 deficiency
Is the Nitrous Oxide Safe?
Dentistry mainly uses treatments that are suitable for the patients and do not harm them. The effect of this sedative does not last long like other anesthesia. It’s an effective treatment for successful treatment.
In case of overdose, the patients may feel lingering, but the effects will vanish quickly without any severe harm. You don’t need to worry about this dosage when a medical practitioner is charging for this administration.
Nitrous oxide may threaten your health when you misuse it. You do not need this gas during routine check-ups. If the individual inhales more than the set limit, it may harm the individual’s health.
Conclusion
Nitrous oxide sedation is an anesthesia that helps you have a successful dental treatment without worry. The gas mixture enables you to stay conscious with less movement and is effective. If you have the symptoms mentioned above, the gas is unsuitable. So, it’s best to consider them before inhaling this gas.