Laughing gas is an optional pain reliever in dental offices, often used for calming and pain relief during procedures. It can be administered alone or with a numbing agent, and is useful for people allergic to local anesthetics or afraid of dentists. It may come at an additional cost.
In general, laughing gas is an optional pain reliever available in most dental offices. A number of common procedures can be performed without it. In fact, some dentists choose not to outfit their practices with the popular anesthetic at all. Many patients prefer to use it, however, due to its calming, yet euphoric, and pain-relieving qualities. It can be administered alone or in combination with Novocaine®, a localized numbing agent given to the patient as an injection near the procedure site.
Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, is commonly used in dentistry, as well as some other non-dental medical procedures. When patients request it, a small rubber mask is placed over the patient’s nose, which is connected to a machine that delivers a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen. When the person breathes in through the nose, the sweet-smelling gas quickly produces a calming effect and pain relief. Some people even fall asleep during procedures using laughing gas, but most stay awake, albeit calm.
After a few breaths of laughing gas, the patient experiences the pain-relieving and feel-good effects almost instantly. When this option is required, the dentist will usually administer it to the patient before anesthetizing the area of the mouth to be worked on. If the person begins to feel nauseous or overly sedated, a quick adjustment of the dials of the nitrous oxide machine can usually relieve any unpleasant symptoms. The dentist is able to give more or less gas to get the desired pain relief.
When dentists prepare their patients for treatments that may cause pain, such as filling cavities or performing root canals, they usually inject a numbing agent such as Novocaine® or Lidocaine® into the patient’s mouth. Some people are allergic to the local anesthetic or may have had bad reactions in the past. In these cases, laughing gas may be the best option. It is also particularly useful for relieving the anxiety of people who are afraid of dentists.
Sometimes, there is an additional charge for using the laughing gas. However, it may not be included in the procedure fee, so it is important to inquire about this when deciding whether or not you want to have it. Conversely, injections to numb the mouth are often included in the cost of most dental procedures that would normally cause pain.
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