Nitrous Oxide (N2O), commonly called “Laughing Gas”, is one of the safest forms of sedation available to alleviate anxiety during dental treatments.
It is a gas, which you breathe in through your nose with a small personal mask. Nitrous oxide is a colorless gas which decreases pain sensitivity and gives the patient a sense of distance from the dental experience. It is sweet-smelling and nonirritating. The patient begins to feel a pleasant level of sedation after a short time.
After the gas is adjusted to the appropriate dose and the patient is relaxed and sedated, the dentist can comfortably give an anesthetic injection (if needed) to the patient, and then proceed with the dental treatment. After the treatment is completed, the patient is given pure oxygen to breathe for about 5 minutes, and all the effects of the sedation are usually reversed. Unlike general anesthesia, the patients can almost always leave the office by themselves, without an escort.
The effects wear off soon after the mask is removed. This means you are 100% ready to carry on your life after the use of nitrous oxide.
Almost anyone can have nitrous oxide treatment. We can vary the depth of sedation depending on your level of anxiety.
