What is Dental Sedation?
Dental sedation refers to a variety of techniques used to make patients more comfortable during dental procedures. Our dentists can help determine if our N2O dental sedation servicesare suitable for you and the procedure you will be undergoing.
At Riverside Family Dentistry, we aim to do help our patients feel as comfortable and relaxed as we can during their dental appointments.
On top of offering sedation, we will take steps to work at a pace you determine, take breaks when they are required and provide reassurance often.
Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas)
Nitrous oxide - often called N2O - is a sedative that you inhale through your mouth and nose in a mixture with oxygen. This gas is colourless, odourless and sweet-smelling.
This substance has been used as a surgical and dental sedation treatment since the mid-1800s.
Nitrous oxide will not put you to sleep. It is used as a form of "conscious sedation."
You will be aware, and able to respond to comments or questions from your dentist, but you will feel a sense of calm, relaxation and good humour. It also tends to lessen anxiety, increase pain threshold, reduce gag reflex and make time pass more quickly.
The N2O Sedation Process
Before your dental procedure begins, we will provide you with a mask that will pump a mixture of N2O and Oxygen into the air that you breathe. We will instruct you to breathe in to allow the sedative to take effect.
When the nitrous oxide takes effect, many patients report a sense of calm, relaxation and good humour (thus, the common term for of laughing gas).
After your dental procedure and treatment with nitrous oxide, its effects should dissipate relatively quickly. To help with this, we will use oxygen-rich air to flush the last of the gas from your lungs.