Nitrous Oxide & Headphones

Also known as laughing gas, nitrous oxide is a highly effective sedative combined with oxygen and applied to the nose to eliminate the potential for pain during dental procedures. Nitrous oxide makes patients comfortable during dental procedures that otherwise prove quite uncomfortable. Nitrous oxide does not cause you to enter a deep slumber. Rather, it sedates you to a level that you cannot feel pain yet can still hear the dentist and even respond to directions or requests during the procedure. All you have to do is continue breathing through your nose and you will enjoy a painless dental procedure. Though nitrous oxide can lead to tingling in the legs and arms and/or lightheadedness, there is no reason to worry. The effects of this gas quickly wear off after the mask is removed.

Part of the appeal of nitrous oxide is the fact that it does not require any type of IV or shot for use. A small facemask is used to sedate you so you feel completely comfortable throughout the entirety of your dental appointment. This perfectly safe sedative has been in use for several centuries. Dental technology has since advanced to the point that dentists can alter the depth of the sedation higher or lower as necessary throughout the procedure. Whether you have a youngster in your family who fears the dentist, suffer from dental anxiety or are seeking a dentist who treats patients with disabilities, nitrous oxide will make the experience at McKowen Family Dental that much less stressful.