Nitrous is about as safe as these {*filter*} get--if used with
well-functioning, modern equipment. There is a small risk for chronic
exposure. An hour or so doesn't qualify for chronic exposure.
I don't use nitrous--just never got into using it. Once had an office
with rather old equipment, and the patients sometimes threw up, and I just
didn't try again. But this is just my personal preference.
It might be inconvenient to do a root c{*filter*}under {*filter*} dam with suction
and a nasal hood for nitrous, but an office that uses nitrous should be able
to work something out.
Good luck,
Steve
Quote:
> I've just moved to San Diego and had to get a dentist on rather short
> notice as I developed an abscessed tooth. I'm moderately phobic; after
> ten years of no dentistry I've gotten to the point where I can make and
> keep appointments, get fillings, etc, though I've never had a drilling
> procedure done without nitrous oxide.
> My new dental office gave me nitrous without comment for the two emergency
> appointments necessary to get the abscess down. I returned for a root
> c{*filter*}and found that the endodontist on staff doesn't believe in using
> nitrous, considers it dangerous, and will not give it to me. I
> rescheduled with the original non-endo doctor and came in this morning.
> He told me that the office had run out of nitrous oxide canisters six
> weeks ago and hadn't re-ordered any yet. He said he doesn't like to use
> it either, the mask is awkward, and while it might be okay for a half-hour
> appointment he did not want anybody on it for the potential hour or 90
> minutes that the root c{*filter*}might take. He wrote me a prescription for
> halcion to take before actually getting the procedure done, and
> rescheduled again for next week.
> Aside from my annoyance at being allowed to make and keep today's
> appointment when it was obvious the dentist did not intend to do the root
> c{*filter*}today (He never told me that; I went in expecting to have it done),
> I'm wondering if these guys' attitude toward nitrous oxide is typical of
> dentists, or dentists in southern california, or what. My dentist in
> Wisconsin was the one who suggested that using it might make me able to
> get through appointments, and he was right. He had no qualms about giving
> it to me even for somewhat extended procedures. It's not like I was in
> there every week or anything. I find it very difficult and stressful to
> have procedures done without it. I even suspected that they thought I was
> just asking for it because it got me high or something, but apparently not
> if he's turning around and writing prescriptions for tranquilizers. For
> some reason, getting tranked up sounds like a bigger, more dangerous deal
> than inhaling a bit of gas that quickly gets out of the system when it's
> turned off, but what do I know? I half-wonder if the guy wasn't shitting
> me about the office having run out of the stuff. Have they had a bad
> experience with it or something, that they're so discouraging?
> I'm definitely in the market for a new dentist as soon as this root c{*filter*}
> is dealt with, but I'm wondering if I'm likely to have difficulty finding
> dentists who are willing as a matter of course to administer nitrous oxide
> to nervous patients who need root canals. Any dentists out there? Do you
> consider it an option dependent on patient preference, or something only
> to be used in extreme cases or last resorts, or not at all? Do you
> pressure people to wean off of it? I thought I was doing pretty damn good
> considering my former phobia, but apparently my dentist does not consider
> my progress adequate. He's inducing a hell of a lot more anxiety than
> he's soothing...
Nitrous oxide