Laughing gas sedation

The laughing gas causes relaxation and decoupling from reality. One feels "light" and has a feeling of indifference. Fear is noticeably suppressed.

As a patient, you will receive a nasal mask connected to the nitrous oxide device before the treatment. You can breathe in and out through the mask in a relaxed manner. The mask is made of silicone and can be worn comfortably.

Each sedation starts with pure oxygen and ends with pure oxygen as well. The concentration of nitrous oxide is slowly increased until you get a relaxed feeling. This enables you to determine the amount of nitrous oxide yourself. In rare cases, you may experience a feeling of discomfort with dizziness; this condition can be quickly corrected with inhalation of pure oxygen. Throughout the treatment, you will be monitored with a pulse oximeter (oxygen saturation and pulse).

Nitrous oxide works very quickly and is absorbed through the lungs. It suppresses anxiety even before it can develop and leads to significant relaxation. Nitrous oxide takes effect after 4-5 minutes and after the nitrous oxide is stopped, the effect fades after 5-10 minutes. There are no known allergies. Laughing gas sedation does not result in any physical restrictions after the treatment, patients can leave the practice independently and participate in normal everyday life.

Laughing gas is very suitable for almost all patients who are afraid of dental treatment or suffer from an above-average gag reflex. Due to its very good controllability, nitrous oxide sedation can be used for all procedures from professional tooth cleaning to surgical procedures. Laughing gas sedation allows even the youngest patients with dental phobia to start dental treatment. In this way, patients who have already had a bad experience at the dentist can be helped to have a positive experience.

If severe general diseases such as MS, COPD, pneumothorax, emphysema or ileus are present, the use of nitrous oxide should be discussed in detail with the doctor. The same applies to patients suffering from severe lung or heart diseases.

Severe asthmatics and persons taking antidepressants should not be treated with nitrous oxide. In pregnant women, nitrous oxide sedation is not recommended for purely safety reasons.

During general anesthesia, the presence of a trained anesthesiologist is indispensable, since artificial respiration is necessary. The patient is given access and the anesthetic is injected into the bloodstream so that the effect is immediate and the patient is then artificially ventilated through the nose.

Laughing gas sedation is the only sedation in dentistry with a conscious patient. This offers great advantages in communication between the patient and the dentist. Compared to general anesthesia, nitrous oxide also offers the advantage that the patient consciously has a positive experience at the dentist's office, since he or she is awake the entire time and capable of rational thought. In this way, not only can a relaxed treatment take place, but dental phobia can be counteracted.

Patients are given the opportunity to have a say in the course of treatment (type of treatment, duration of treatment), even if they are detached from reality. Compared to general anesthesia, there is no need for an accompanying person, since patients can participate in traffic immediately after treatment.

Children are an exception. For legal reasons, they should always be treated accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Treatment with nitrous oxide is charged according to the time of sedation, 30 minutes are calculated in our practice at 90€.

Compared to general anesthesia, laughing gas sedation offers a quick and effective solution for combating phobia of the dentist in anxiety patients.

The treatment usually has very few side effects and contraindications. For this reason, the field of application of sedation is very wide. Also from the financial point of view, nitrous oxide sedation is preferable to general anesthesia for minor and medium procedures.