Spring, TX 77379
Phone: 281-401-8200
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Nitrous Oxide
What Is Nitrous Oxide?
Nitrous Oxide, also known as laughing gas, is often used in dental procedures to alleviate patient apprehension during dental treatments. A colorless and pleasant smelling gas, this anesthetic provides relaxation and insensibility to pain. In some patients, nitrous oxide may also cause numbness in cheeks and gums.
Nicknamed "laughing gas" for its tendency to cause laughter and sometimes mild hysteria, nitrous oxide can generate several different physical effects, including: increased pain threshold, disorientation, fixated vision, and throbbing or pulsating auditory or visual hallucinations. The effects of the gas last for about one minute for one lungful of nitrous oxide. Some lingering sensations may continue for several minutes more. Most patients who are administered nitrous oxide, however, are able to leave the office by themselves, without the help of an escort.
Nitrous oxide works by filling the membranes of the body with the gas, subsequently creating the anesthetic effect. Prior to the administration of the gas, patients are instructed not to eat anything for approximately two hours. When the patient is ready for dental treatment, the gas is given through a mask placed over the nose. After taking a few breaths through their nose and out their mouth, the patient will begin to experience the effects of the nitrous oxide after approximately 30 seconds to three or four minutes. Once the patient feels relaxed and sedated, the gas is adjusted to the proper dose. The dentist can then give an additional anesthetic (if needed and in the form of an injection) and carry on with dental treatment. Once the procedure(s) is complete, the patient is administered pure oxygen for approximately five minutes. All effects of nitrous oxide then typically dissipate.
Employed in about one third of United States dental practices, nitrous oxide is one of the safest anesthetics available when properly administered and produces few side effects. In some patients, it may cause nausea and approximately ten percent of patients receive no assistance from the gas. In addition, nitrous oxide is not recommended for patients that are claustrophobic or have blocked nasal passages.
English chemist Joseph Priestley discovered the gas in 1772, but it was named nitrous oxide by Humphry Davy.