{"id":274,"date":"2021-10-21T13:39:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T13:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/?p=274"},"modified":"2021-11-01T13:45:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T13:45:08","slug":"does-nitrous-oxide-put-patients-to-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/does-nitrous-oxide-put-patients-to-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Nitrous Oxide Put Patients to Sleep?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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An estimated 75% of adults in the United States have some fear or anxiety associated with the dentist, while between five and 10% of those people have a severe dental phobia. One of the ways that dentists are able to encourage and help patients to keep up with their oral health is to administer nitrous oxide<\/a> during their appointment, which is a method of sedation. Many people wonder how this makes you feel, and question whether it actually<\/em> helps calm your nerves or not. Read on to learn more about nitrous oxide and the effects that it will have on you during your appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What is Nitrous Oxide?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nitrous oxide is a safe and highly effective method of sedation that involves breathing in a mixture of oxygen and nitrous, which is a colorless, odorless gas, through a small mask that\u2019s placed over your nose. It\u2019s more commonly referred to as \u201claughing gas,\u201d and the effects of it take place within 30 seconds and four minutes of it being administered. It\u2019s stored at room temperature within the dental office and has a slight metallic scent and taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does Nitrous Oxide Make You Feel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The effects of nitrous oxide take place nearly immediately after they\u2019re breathed in. It slows down the body\u2019s reaction time and results in a feeling of euphoria and calmness, although it doesn\u2019t numb the body or keep you from feeling pain during a treatment. That\u2019s why patients who are having more invasive treatments may receive nitrous oxide as well as local anesthesia. It\u2019s also able to suppress the gag reflex and reduce anxiety levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Nitrous Oxide Put You to Sleep?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nitrous oxide is considered conscious sedation, unlike general anesthesia, so it won\u2019t put you to sleep. You\u2019ll still be able to respond to the dentist\u2019s and dental team\u2019s requests during your procedure, and you\u2019ll remain aware of your surroundings during your visit. However, many patients don\u2019t remember much by the time the effects wear off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The After-Effects of Nitrous Oxide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After your treatment, the mask will be removed, and the effects will melt away within minutes. As soon as your dentist clears you to leave, you\u2019ll be able to drive yourself to the next place you need to go and carry on with your day as you normally would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nitrous oxide is a completely safe, fast-acting, and highly effective form of dental sedation, allowing patients with mild to moderate dental fear and anxiety visit the dentist without putting their comfort and mental health at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rafiq Hirji has over a decade of experience helping patients of all ages have an enjoyable, educational, and comfortable time visiting the dentist. He has special advanced training in sedation dentistry and has achieved is Level 2 Certification. His knowledge and expertise helps put his patients\u2019 minds at-ease because they can trust that he\u2019ll always provide them with attentive, relaxing care. For questions or to learn more about nitrous oxide sedation, visit Daily Smiles MacArthur\u2019s website<\/a> or call 972-546-4114.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An estimated 75% of adults in the United States have some fear or anxiety associated with the dentist, while between five and 10% of those people have a severe dental phobia. One of the ways that dentists are able to encourage and help patients to keep up with their oral health is to administer nitrous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailysmilesmacarthur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}