Metal Mouth Message Board

EVERYONE-

I need to get my lower left wisdom tooth extracted, and my oral surgeon suggested laughing gas. Has anyone ever used laughing gas for an anesthesia?? I'm assuming it will be the local anesthesia and laughing gas together. I'm only getting one tooth out so I think I may actually use it. Do I still need an escort and someone to drive me home? What happens when I inhale the gas, do I still feel pain? Thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated

I had laughing gas (well, Entonox = "gas & air" in the UK) for childbirth. I was still aware of pain in a remote kind of way, but didn't care about it . Then when I had a locked knee once I was given a whiff of gas before the doc tried to manipulate it free. Suffice to say that didn't work and they had to give me a general.

In my experience the gas doesn't really stop you feeling pain, just takes you out of it. If that makes sense. I'm sure they'd have to use local anaesthetic as the main relief, and the gas would just be to help you feel more relaxed about it. When I had a wisdom tooth removed I had local anaesthetic only and it was fine. Didn't feel pain at all, just a lot of tugging.

The gas wears off very quickly, but taking an escort with you would probably still be a good idea.

Hope that helps a bit .

YOu will still receive local anesthetic with the gas. the gas is nitrous oxide. It takes the edge off. Kind of similar to valium, xanax, etc. Only it is inhaled and once turned off and you brethe in oxygen for a while the effect wears off so you can drive home, etc.

My daughter had a very scary reaction to laughing gas last year. When the oral surgeon tells you to keep your eyes open, DO IT. Don't close your eyes and "fall asleep" or it could result in a "bad trip" type of experience. My daughter thought she was dying and almost knocked over the dentist in trying to get out of the chair. Needless to say, she will never have laughing gas again. I have heard similar accounts from other people. Do your research before deciding to get nitrous oxide.

I have pretty severe panic attacks, so I get the laughing gas for fillings and they used it when they pulled my tooth when I was getting my braces on. It really just helps me be more relaxed. I do suggest that you get informed and ask about possible side effects or drug interactions. For example, I did not take my panic attack med in combination with the gas. When it's just the hygenist or dentist or ortho or whatever I'm fine, but I tend to freak out when more than one person is in my "space" at a time, LOL.

I had a wisdom tooth pulled before I got braced, and had a local anesthetic and nitrous oxide. The effects of the nitrous oxide wore off pretty quickly after the procedure, and I was able to drive home with no problem. The nitrous oxide doesn't quite knock you out, but puts you in a state where you're aware of what's going around you - sort of - but don't really care.

My kids (now teenagers) have told me that when they got nitrous oxide, they were in a semi-dream state and felt no pain. The problem with my daughter occurred when she did not keep her eyes open and apparently had a "nightmare." The dentist suggested that she never get nitrous again. It scared the crap out of my daughter, who was 13 at the time.

It is very rare to have such a reaction. I am sorry that happened to your daughter. Nitrous does not 'knock you out' just takes much of the 'edge' off. Just like xanax or a few drinks might. Local anesthetis is still needed. FWIW, even if they do 'knnock you out' with IV sedatin they still give you local anesthetic.

I had nitrous when I had my 4 bicuspids removed and had a similar experience to Lynn's daughter. It was the single worst experience of my life. I want to stress that my reaction is NOT the typical reaction. Most people love nitrous. In the unlikely event you start to have a bad feeling, tell the nurse, but do not do what I did and listen to her when she tells you to keep the mask on your face and breath deeply. Rip it off and chuck it at her.

I mean--hand it to her politely.

she was probably having you breathe pure oxygen at that point to get you to feel better faster...so I wouldnt advise ripping your mask off.

No. This was at the very beginning before the procedure even started. I kept telling the nurse, "I don't like this feeling". She would go to the tank, fiddle around a bit and tell me to breath deeper. The feeling got worse, not better, the longer the mask was on.

When my kids were little they got nitrous and novocaine all the time and it was fine. Not sure exactly why it suddenly affected my daughter that way when she was 13. But the dentist said that sometimes adults do have a harder time with the stuff. And he said that it might not have happened if she'd kept her eyes open.

I've never had it, so I can't comment on my own experience. All I can tell you is: hearing your kid scream "Oh my god, I'm dying please help me" is not fun. Of course I knew that it was just the nitrous making her say that (she was actually just fine). I'd read about the possible negative effects of nitrous, so when it happened I knew that it was just a temporary bad reaction. If I hadn't known that, I think I would have freaked out!

There is one positive thing that resulted from this experience: my daughter asked if that's what a bad drug trip feels like, and it strengthened her resolve never to do drugs!

When I got my wisdom teeth extracted (this was many years ago) I was knocked out and had no problem. I thought that everyone was always knocked out for the procedure, but I guess not....

pdbprodigy--I really, really want to stress that a bad experience is not at all the norm. I just wanted to give you my two cents. My other point is that I voiced my concern and it seems I was ignored by the medical staff. I trusted them when they said it would get better but it did not. I think they gave me more of the stuff, not less. So if you start to feel bad--tell them. If you are ignored, take off the mask. You will start to feel better plus the gesture will, if nothing else, get the staffs attention that you are serious. Looking back--I really wish I would have done that. Live and learn. Now I know that nitrous is not for me.

To give a different perspective-

I had four wisdom teeth pulled with novacaine and under laughing gas. I also had taken prescribed valium before my appointments. I LOVED the nitrous. I closed my eyes and had my ipod going and was in complete lala land. I was aware of where I was, and was having trippy dreams about the orthodonist and his assistant, but was kind of separated from myself. If you do not take valium beforehand, and just have the novacaine and laughing gas you can drive yourself home. The nitrous wears off very fast. If you have a long drive home, it would be nice to have a friend to drive you, but is definitely not required.

It's unfortunate that a couple people here did have a bad experience, but just for a new perspective I had the nitrous on two different occassions (2 teeth at a time, 2 weeks apart) and it really made the experience much more bearable for me. Good luck with your decision!

Oh, and with the novacaine there is no pain. You will still feel pressue, but that's it.

nitrous oxide is a drug and is used in medicine and derivative uses

one thing to help the experience to be okay is to remember that you are under nitrous effect and that the effects will wear down in minutes.
if you are starting to have a bad trip, remember its just temporary and that its just nitrous effect; scary or not, it may helps to calm down
just use your brain to understand the basic of the situation