Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) anxiety!?
Nitrous oxide wont do much for pain management. Its more of a “distractor” If it is effective YOu will feel “stoned and not notice the injection. But if your anxiety is over powering then the nitrous may not have any effect. You may need to consider oral conscious sedation, which is nitrous with an anti anxiety pill like valium. sedation dentistry come in several forms, and it will depend on you. Some people do well with nitrous alone, some require nitrous with an anti axiety pill, some require iv sedation some require general anathesia. In My clinical experiance Oral consicuous sedation seems to work for most of the people that are vry scared. Once in a while I need to refer them for IV sedation and I have never had to refer anyone for general anasthesia.
Nitrous does make you relax a little bit. The best thing to do if you have really bad anxiety is to find a dentist that does sedation dentistry. This way, you can go for and exam, and when you have to get work done, you can be put to sleep, wake up and the procedure is over! It is great. All of my patients that had bad anxiety loved the sedation option. Although it is pretty costly. Nitrous does not take the pain away at all. People can feel a little light headed, and if taken off nitrous and not given enough oxygen you can get a headache. You will be able to drive after your apt. Truthfully, I don’t feel like nitrous is worth the money. I’ve never personally tried it, just going by what I know about nitrous and what my patients have told me. Some people swear by it, others say it didn’t do anything for them. It’s a matter of opinion.
