Does the thought of going to the dentist provoke an anxious feeling inside of you? Maybe you’ve had some sort of oral procedure done to you that was on the brink of being a nightmare, or maybe you’ve just heard too many dental horror stories. You can put your fears to rest because of the sedation options that have been available to patients for many years, where patients claim to feel little or no pain and sometimes don’t even recollect the experience at all. The most common options are laughing gas, a.k.a. inhalation sedation, and oral sedation, which is in the form of a pill. Read on to learn the advantages and disadvantages of both options.
Laughing Gas: Advantages
Laughing gas is a mix of nitrous oxide and oxygen and is administered using a mask for the patient to place on his or her face and inhale the gas. There are several advantages for choosing this option over taking a pill for sedation. The first advantage is that the gas only takes 20 seconds to reach your brain and you will start to feel relaxed and pain-free within 2-3 minutes. Furthermore, the patient and dentist can control the depth of sedation. If patients think they need a little more or a little less laughing gas, then all the dentist has to do is turn a lever to increase or decrease the supply. Another advantage is the duration of laughing gas. You control how long you need to be affected by it. Then, when the procedure is done and you don’t need it anymore, you simply just stop breathing it in. Therefore, there are no residual effects that some drugs have for hours after their use. Plus, there is no need for any injections for those people who hate needles, and it is completely safe to use.
Laughing Gas: Disadvantages
There are just a few disadvantages to laughing gas. Some people report that it makes them nauseous. Dentists recommend eating before your appointment if this is the case. Also, some patients say that it does not sedate them enough. Because the nitrous oxide is mixed with oxygen in order to be safer, the concentration of nitrous oxide might be too low for some people. Furthermore, if you can’t breathe through your nose because it is stuffy or you’re purely a mouth breather, then you won’t be able to use the apparatus to breath in the gas.
Oral Sedation: Advantages
Oral sedation means taking a pill that relaxes you, and usually consists of the drug class of benzodiazepines. Many people prefer the ease of just taking a pill to relax them before their dental appointment and would prefer that over breathing through a mask or being injected with anesthesia. Furthermore, people who use oral sedation say that they can rely on it to provide an adequate amount of relaxation. In fact, 50% of patients say they have little or no memory of the procedure when orally sedated. Dentists can get through the procedure is less time this way, and oral sedation is also low in cost.
Oral Sedation: Disadvantages
The main drawback to oral sedation is that it does not provide pain relief. The patient would have to be injected with anesthesia if he or she wants to avoid pain. Another drawback is that it can take 30 minutes to an hour for the pill to take effect, and, for people who don’t regularly take benzodiazepines, the sedation effect is not predictable. One last disadvantage is that if you have severe anxiety or phobia about dental procedures, then the medication may not work to relieve that.
Both methods work to put your mind at ease, and now you know that there are choices available so that you don’t have to suffer as much or at all. Whether you choose nitrous oxide or oral sedation is really just a personal choice. Both are safe and low in cost. Discuss these options with your dentist before your next dental procedure.
Information Credit: Paramount Dentistry
