Pain Free Sedation Dentistry with Nitrous Oxide

If the very thought of going to the dentist makes you anxious, you are one of many people who dread the dentist’s drill, postponing a visit to the dentist until you can’t ignore your dental problems any longer. By putting off dental care you expose yourself to serious health risks.

Contemporary dentistry provides an effective way for you to receive timely dental treatment that is anxiety and pain-free. We, at Hedgcoxe Dental, offer sedation dentistry using Nitrous Oxide to make your visit a comfortable and stress-free experience.

What’s Sedation Dentistry

Allowing for pain-free dentistry, sedation dentistry with the exception of nitrous oxide dentistry requires you to take medication prescribed by the dentist an hour before your appointment. The effect of the medication is that you reach the dental clinic in a relaxed yet fully responsive state. Even when you are in the dentist’s chair, you aren’t really unconscious – only mentally removed from the goings on around you.

The sedative’s effect wears off after six-eight hours, which means you will need someone to drive you to and back from the clinic. Sedation using nitrous oxide again offers welcome relief from this constraint as the gas leaves your system within a short time, usually 3-5 minutes of stopping the gas-supply.

Nitrous Oxide Dentistry

Nitrous oxide is perhaps the most popular sedative used in dentistry, and for very good reasons. Also known as “laughing gas”, Nitrous Oxide is a light or mild sedative. Inhaling an oxygen and nitrous oxide combination will soothe and calm your nerves. This method of sedation does not involve any needles or IVs, and is ideal for those who are afraid of needles. The gas is also safe – there are minuscule chances of anyone being allergic to this oxide of nitrogen, and because the sedation dentist/administrator exercises complete control over the drug’s level, overdose is virtually ruled out.

Here’s a small list of the advantages of employing nitrous oxide in sedation:

  • No after-effects – you needn’t worry about fighting any hangovers.
  • Easy adjustments to the depth of sedation.
  • Inhalation sedation provides increased safety for people suffering from liver or heart diseases, diabetes, and epilepsy.
  • Minimal gagging
  • Acts really fast – takes only 20 seconds to reach the brain.

When You Shouldn’t Go For Nitrous Oxide

It’s not advisable to use nitrous oxide in the following situations:

  • If you suffer from multiple sclerosis, chest problems, emphysema or a cold.
  • If you are pregnant.

It’s not a bad idea to ask the dentist for a short trial of the nitrous oxide sedation technique before proceeding to get a feel of the method.