Laughing gas, alternatively called nitrous oxide, is a colourless and odourless substance when inhaled, slows the reaction time of the body. As a result, the gas produces a calm and euphoric feeling. In addition, laughing gas helps treat pain because it functions as a mild sedative. The qualities of sedation present in laughing gas enable dentists to use it before dental procedures to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation.
As a sedative, laughing gas works quickly and doesn’t require much time to dissipate from the body after it is switched off. The effects of the gas dissipate in minutes enabling dental patients to leave the dental office by themselves.
Is Nitrous Oxide Better Than Sedation?
Every dental procedure differs from the anxiety patients feel when visiting dentists. For example, sedation comes in different forms, with nitrous oxide being the mildest and suitable for most patients with mild dental anxiety.
Dentists frequently administer nitrous oxide to children, often uncooperative during dental visits because they don’t know what to expect. Gas administration happens through a mask placed over the nose for inhalation. The patient remains awake during dental treatment, whether administered to children or adults. However, patients will feel tingling sensations and some euphoria but remain conscious.
When providing nitrous oxide for minor procedures like tooth extractions, patients with moderate dental anxiety might find laughing gas a better option than IV sedation requiring them to receive sedatives through a vein in the arm injected by needles. Laughing gas provides a no-needle approach to dental treatments making it comfortable for people with anxiety, including children, to receive dental procedures without concern.
Dental Sedation Defined
As mentioned earlier, sedation comes in different forms, and the anxiety level experienced by the patient determines which kind of dental sedation best suits their needs. Therefore, when seeking dental treatments from the family dentist in Midland, the professional inquires into the patient’s anxiety level to determine the potency of the medications to help the patient relax.
Dental sedation is available as mild, moderate, and deep and is administered accordingly. In addition, sedatives are available as tranquillizers, muscle relaxants, antianxiety medications, nitrous oxide, et cetera. These drugs help the patient relax without losing consciousness, making them think their dental procedure ended in a few minutes, even after spending hours in the dentist’s chair.
Patients with mild anxiety needing minor procedures like dental exams or deep cleanings and extractions receive pills to ingest an hour before their appointment to arrive at the dental practice feeling relaxed. They might also receive nitrous oxide after arrival at the dental practice of the Midland dentist.
However, patients with moderate or severe anxiety needing intensive procedures like root canals, tooth replacement solutions, or dental restorations for damaged teeth receive oral conscious sedation that helps relax them during their treatment to help restore their mouth functionality and their smile.
Intravenous sedation is often used on patients undergoing significant oral procedures for full mouth rehabilitation to leave them in a semiconscious state, making it comfortable for the dentist to complete more work in one appointment than dealing with fidgety patients interrupting dental work frequently. Although dental sedation helps relieve anxiety among patients, they still require local anesthesia in the mouth for pain management. Therefore, dental sedation merely works as an anxiety management technique assisting the patients to remain calm but conscious in the dentist’s chair, willing to respond to any queries.
Patients receiving dental sedation during dental appointments must arrange for transportation to and from the dental practice because the sedatives make them incapable of operating vehicles. In addition, patients can help themselves by having a trusted family member to remain with them for three to four hours after returning home until they recover from the sedatives provided by the dentist.
All techniques of dental sedation, including laughing gas, have a similar aim to relax the patient and receive essential treatments they have been ignoring to compromise the health of their mouth and smile.
Dental sedation is a simple and effective technique of relaxing patients reluctant to visit dentists even for routine checkups. Patients will experience no laughing gas side effects after the dentist switches off the gas they inhale and provides oxygen to help them recover from the euphoric feeling delivered by the gas. You don’t require help or arrange transportation to and from the dental practice or have someone nearby to care for you if you receive dental treatments from the Midland provider with nitrous oxide that dissipates quickly from your body to leave you feeling hale and hearty.
If you’re anxious about dental treatments, whether minor or significant Midland Avenue Dental can help you with different kinds of sedation, including laughing gas that doesn’t cause any side effects. Kindly visit the practice to consult which type of dental sedation is appropriate for you to receive essential dental treatments.