One of the tools we have  to help make dental hygiene treatment more comfortable and  take the fear out of having dental treatment done is the use of nitrous oxide-oxygen sedation, otherwise known as laughing gas.⠀⠀

Dental Phobia?

Know someone who has been putting off their preventative dental cleanings because they are nervous of all dental treatment? Maybe they had a bad experience in the past, or have a severe dental phobia.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

At Lifetime Smiles, there are Registered Dental Hygienists on staff certified to administer and treat patients under nitrous sedation, which is very comforting to nervous patients who have had difficult appointments in the past.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The term laughing gas is really a misnomer. It doesn’t really make you laugh when we use it although on rare occasions it can give patients a bit of the giggles.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Nitrous oxide has been used in dentistry for over one hundred years. Nitrous oxide is always given with oxygen. In fact, patients will also receive at minimum of 30% oxygen, which is more than the 20% oxygen present in the air that we normally breathe.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Nitrous oxide sedation is very safe. If you know someone putting off their dental cleaning because they are nervous, this may be a solution.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Sally Lloyd BScDH, RDH & Stephanie Hougen, RDH are certified to administer and treat patients under nitrous sedation, which is very comforting to nervous patients who have had difficult appointments in the past. *All dental hygiene facilities in Alberta must be registered with the CRDHA prior to initiating use of nitrous oxide/oxygen conscious sedation equipment.

Inhalation sedation, laughing gas, relative analgesia, RA, happy gas, gas and air, nitrous, nitrous oxide, N2O-O2… this one has more names than any other sedation technique.