Nitrous Oxide Delivery

Many people experience anxiety during lengthy dental procedures, for their ease and to make their pain lessen, nitrous oxide delivery is used. Nitrous oxide is basically a laughing gas. It is a colorless and sweet-smelling gas which also has no smell. This gas has been in use since 1800s for dental and surgical procedures due to its two key benefits, first it relieves the pain during dental surgery and second it eases the anxiety of patients who are afraid to undergo such surgical procedures. This approach is safe yet effective in conducting the lengthy surgical procedures.

Nitrous oxide delivery is given to patients in a fixed ratio mixed with oxygen. It enters the patient’s body by inhalation and travels through the veins into the brain where anesthesia actually works. This calming the patient down and reducing the pain. It is lowly soluble and cannot be absorbed into the blood, hence it is removed from the body rapidly. The nitrous oxide gas is administered to the patients with the help of a mask or a nose pipe. The calming and relaxing effects of this gas mixed with oxygen begin in three to five minutes of administration. The dose, amount and duration of inhalation of nitrous gas is controlled and closely monitored by your dentists throughout the procedural process. At the end of the procedure, the patient is given 100% oxygen to flush out remaining nitrous oxide gas from the system before the removal of mask. Hence, the effects immediately wear off and our patients can easily return to their normal activities.

So, if you are living around Richmond Hill and require dental procedures done, you can visit the Dr. Greenwald & Dr. Barnouti Dental anytime of the day during opening hours at Hillcrest Mall 9350 Yonge St Suite 201, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 5G. or in case you need to book an appointment, you can reach us at greenwaldbarnouti@gmail.com or give us a call on (905) 883-1334

Nitrous Oxide Delivery Systems

There are basically two delivery systems for nitrous oxide, one is the portable tanks while the other is fixed tanks. Both of these delivery systems have a combination of 70% nitrous oxide and 30% oxygen gas. We also have the safety features for nitrous oxide delivery, these are of the audio and video combination. These safety features are maintained and monitored properly by our experts to avoid adverse effects during nitrous oxide delivery. These safety systems both audio and video are in the form of alarms, color coding, locks, emergency air inlet, oxygen fail-safe system, oxygen flush button, and reservoir bag etc.

The combination of these safety system helps us to monitor the delivery of nitrous oxide to the patient for general anesthesia. In this way it becomes easier to monitor the patient’s condition and response to certain amount of nitrous oxide delivery. We follow the instructions recommended by the Council on Dental Practice so the safe procedure.

The Effects of Nitrous Oxide

The nitrous oxide delivery is important for general anesthesia during the lengthy dental surgery. It is administered to our patients to reduce their anxiety and to relieve pain during the surgery. There are various beneficial effects of using laughing gas during the procedures, these include:

  • The patient feels calm and relax with a feeling of euphoria.
  • The patient will experience giggles and laughing after the inhalation.
  • Nitrous oxide acts and mild analgesic hence it helps with the pain relieving.
  • The patient gets immediate relief from pain after inhaling the gas as it takes effect within minutes.
  • Due to its less solubility, it quickly leaves the patient’s body after the procedure and patient can return back to their daily activities.

Who Needs Sedation Dentistry?

Not everyone is recommended for the nitrous oxide delivery, there are few patients who met the certain requirements and are subjected to this technique. The main purpose of nitrous oxide inhalation is to provide relief from pain and to keep patients calm during long procedures. The technique is safe for everyone except few with certain health conditions who will be discussed below. Adults, children and even pregnant women can go through this technique for general anesthesia. Those who are eligible and need nitrous oxide sedation are the ones who have an anxiety towards the operational process and have dental anxiety in general.

There are some people who naturally feel fear visiting the dental clinics from the beginning. To make such people relaxed and calm during the procedure, we make use of nitrous oxide gas that is completely harmless. Some people have sensitive gag reflex, they need this sedation technique to go through the dental procedures.

Some people have claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces) when they are seated on the dental chair. For them, it is important for the dentists to make their patients relaxed by the use of laughing gas as it reduces the anxiety in them. Many people have a needle phobia, they cannot bear the insertion of needle into their body. These people cannot be given local anesthesia, hence general anesthetic techniques are employed.

It has been observed that many people have decreased sensitivity towards local anesthetic procedure, for them general anesthesia is used. Some people have extremely sensitive teeth, and they have difficulty in controlling their body movements. Such uncontrolled movements hinder the dental operations and creates problems for the dentist to work properly on their teeth. They are then given nitrous oxide so that their bodies are related and they feel calm.

Is Nitrous Oxide Delivery Safe?

The future of nitrous oxide delivery in the dentistry is very bright. It is considered as staple in providing anxiety free procedures and relieving pain of patients. It plays an important role in the care of patients during the dental procedures. Despite of having beneficial effects, many people are still skeptical of using it. Our experts at Dr. Greenwald & Dr. Barnouti Dental offer their discussion before the procedures and making the patients comfortable and familiar with the nitrous oxide delivery.

Due to having no color, no taste and no odor, it is same to inhale nitrous oxide because it will not cause irritation in your nose and mouth. The use of nitrous oxide during dental procedures is considered as one of the safest drugs used in dentistry. Still there are some people who cannot use this gas for sedation during the treatment process, such limitations include:

  • Some people who have a mask phobia and they experience difficulty in breathing through the mask are recommended not to use nitrous oxide delivery. We have other sedation methods to anesthesia for the treatment.
  • Some people have issues with their psychiatry, including schizophrenic patients, we do not recommend using this technique on them.
  • Some people are generally allergic to nitrous oxide gas, while others have lungs condition. In both cases we employ other methods of anesthesia and sedation.

Due to the reasons described above, our dentists discuss medical history of patients before undergoing the dental procedures. This helps us understand the general behavior and reactions towards the use of nitrous oxide delivery, and hence we take precautions accordingly.