The Serious Side of Laughing Gas for Pediatric Dental Patients

If your child’s dentist has told you your child should receive nitrous oxide (commonly known as laughing gas) for an upcoming dental procedure, you may have concerns. We’d like to help you understand the when and why of using this safe medication in pediatric dentistry. 

We recommend the use of nitrous oxide to alleviate stress for some children before certain complex procedures. Nitrous oxide is an easily controlled mild sedative with a faint sweet smell. The gas enables us to complete a procedure quickly and safely before a child begins to move or becomes restless.

How Does it Work? 

It is delivered using a nasal mask, mixed with oxygen and inhaled at a concentration that is safe for your child. It is commonly used because it has both an anxiety-reducing (anxiolytic) effect, as well as a pain relieving (analgesic) effect with minimal risk to the patient. In other words, it reduces the anxiety and pain that a child may feel during and after treatment. 

We ensure that a child’s vital signs are within normal range when gas is being administered, and they are in control of their protective reflexes, like being able to swallow. 

When inhaled, nitrous oxide dissolves into the liquid portion of the blood and is released from the body when the child breathes out. For this reason, a child must be able to breathe through their nose for us to use nitrous oxide and kids with upper respiratory or middle ear infections are not appropriate for this treatment. 

What Is Recovery Like?

When the treatment is complete, we have the child breathe 100% oxygen through the mask for several minutes to completely flush the nitrous oxide from their body and avoid nausea. Afterwards they can leave the office and return to their everyday activities. The treatment does not affect heart rate, and has no negative effects on a child's heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. 

The Cost of Safety

Nitrous oxide is a great tool for delivering dental care to children safely, but it is not typically covered by dental insurance. At Wild About Smiles, we do believe it is worth the cost to ensure a safe, effective dental procedure where the child is comfortable. These procedures, including fillings, crowns, or extractions, would otherwise be uncomfortable. 

We are always happy to discuss procedures and treatment options with parents.   

You can learn more about how we practice dentistry on our blog.