NITROUS OXIDE in HOUSTON, TX

Laughing gas is a sweet-smelling to odorless, colorless gas that was first used in dental and surgical treatments as a form of anesthesia in the mid-1800s. If used correctly, laughing gas can be effective and safe in managing anxiety and pain in the dental office.

It is commonly referred to as conscious or moderate sedation. It is the most utilized gas anesthetic globally. Roughly 70% of all dental offices, such as our Uptown Houston dental office near the Galleria, provide laughing gas as a sedation method.

Laughing gas is an effective and safe method for managing anxiety and pain for the patient. However, there is an essential margin of safety when you properly administer laughing gas for sedation.

The patient will be advised to limit talking while the laughing gas is being given and try to keep breathing through their nose – not breathe through their mouth if at all possible.

As an inhalation anesthetic, it is distributed and absorbed due to the pressure grades in your lungs, which equilibrate when the tension of the inhaled gas equals what is in the alveoli, tissues, and blood.

Laughing gas has the fastest onset and is transported through the blood as free gas; it will not combine with hemoglobin, and it doesn’t undergo biotransformation. Elimination from the body happens when one exhales, and due to its low solubility, the laughing gas can leave the body rapidly.

When the procedure is over, 100% oxygen is delivered to the patient for at least five minutes before taking off the mask. It will purge the body of any residual laughing gas.

For safe laughing gas sedation in Uptown Houston, contact our dental office near the Galleria today.