Nitrous oxide was first discovered by an English cleric named Joseph Priestley in 1774. Later, in 1800, Humphry Davy, an English chemist and physicist, picked up on his work. He subjected himself and animals to the gas, and made many observations -- most notably, that the gas produced a very pleasant sensation and reduced the sensitivity to pain.
It was not until 1844 that a young Connecticut dentist named Dr. Horace Wells, saw a public demonstration of this gas at a carnival and realized the possibility of using it for dental treatment. The next day, Dr. Wells had some of it delivered to his office, and had a colleague extract his own infected tooth under the influence of the gas. The results were astonishing, and Dr. Wells continued to use this gas for patient treatment thereafter.
This sedative is used in roughly one-third of dental practices in the United States. The benefits of this type of medication is many, and the risks are few. The gas is administered with a comfortable mask placed over the nose, and the patient is instructed to breathe in through the nose and out through their mouth. Patients can control the dosage by regulating their breathing. The more deeply you breathe through your nose, the more you feel the effects of the sedative. As a precaution, patients should not eat anything for about two hours prior to use of the gas. The patient begins to feel a pleasant level of sedation anywhere from 30 seconds to three or four minutes. The cheeks and gums will also begin to feel numb in about a third of the patients.
After the gas is adjusted to the appropriate dose and the patient is relaxed and sedated, the dentist can comfortably give the injection (if needed) to the patient, and then proceed with dental treatment. After the treatment is completed, the patient is given pure oxygen to breathe for about five minutes, and all the effects of sedation are usually reversed. Unlike IV sedation or general anesthesia, the patient can almost always leave the office by themselves, without an escort.
This sedative has few side effects. High doses can cause nausea in some patients, and about 10 percent of patients do not benefit from it. Patients that are claustrophobic or have blocked nasal passages cannot use this type of sedative effectively. Nitrous oxide is one of the safest anesthetics available. Interestingly, it is also routinely used by anesthesiologists for general anesthesia in combination with other more potent gases.
Dentists find this sedative especially useful for fearful patients as well as young children. The effect of this gas is often remarkable. A patient that was anxious just a minute or two before treatment will become relaxed and calm. Because this type of gas is so effective, dentists rarely need to prescribe Valium for anxious patients before treatment. If you are nervous before or during dental treatment, ask your dentist if he or she has nitrous oxide available-it works wonders.
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