Anyone ever had nitrous oxide?

[WillParkinson]

I'm finally going to try to get to the dentist (assuming I don't freak out and walk away when I get there). The lady I spoke with today said they could use nitrous oxide on me to help calm me.

Anyone have any experience with this?

[KamaAina]

1. They use nitrous at the dentist's?

:evilgrin:

[WillParkinson]

2. I'm pretty sure that's what she said...

Though I can't swear to it.

It's possible I misunderstood. I have such a fear factor when it comes to dentists that I could have easily gotten the information wrong.

[KamaAina]

9. See #4 below.

:-)

[PVnRT]

3. Yes. It was WONDERFUL

[WillParkinson]

5. Any details?

As noted above I've got a horrible fear of dentists due to an incident that happened a few years back.

[flvegan]

4. I thought this was going to be about Whip Its.

[WillParkinson]

6. I have no idea what that meant...

I looked it up and understand the basics, but that's about it.

[flvegan]

7. Small canisters of nitrous you buy

and dispense into a balloon. Breathe in the nitrous from the balloon. It's "huffing" and as I understand, the high is very short. Had a suitemate in college that used to do them by the box. No idea what his brain is like today.

[HopeHoops]

10. A few of my friends did those in the early 80's - I never even tried one.

They had brown grocery bags that were FULL of the empty cartridges and they'd just chuck the things from across the room in the general direction of the bags. And they were doing these ON TOP of countless bong hits and endless beer. Yes, they are still alive.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. I won't let the dentist do ANYthing to me without it (except routine cleanings).

If you're really a basket case, ask about sedation dentistry. Nitrous is just the beginning of what they can do to calm you down.

[WillParkinson]

11. There was a dentist we went to see that practiced 'Twilight Dentistry"

No relation to the movie that I'm aware of.

She said that they wouldn't do it with me because as nervous as I was she didn't think it would work.

[Love Bug]

51. Oh. I thought they bored you into a stupor by showing you the Twilight movie

:evilgrin:

[greenmutha]

12. Yes!

:thumbsup:

I highly recommend it.

[yankeepants]

13. It sends you away

You can sort of hear the drilling and the Hygenie and Dr. Painless chatting in an unidentifiable language but you are way too busy exploring a beautiful land in which the tooth fairy and all of her/his court are flitting to and fro creating a happy place of gauze and cotton and sparkly mercury for what is left of your tooth to live in forever more.

It's beautiful. . . choke, snort, weep. . . I'm sorry go on without me.

[WillParkinson]

14. You can hear the drilling...

Yeah, I'm already not cool with this.

[siligut]

18. I don't know what your experience was, but nitrous helps you not care.

Nitrous is useful in dentistry because it has a very short half-life. My experience with nitrous is that I wasn't even concerned with what the dentist was doing. Ask for a bite-block, because if you are like me, you will forget you need to keep your mouth open. I was however, very confident in my dentist's competence. If you have confidence in the dentist you are seeing, you will find the nitrous is helpful to calm your apprehension and anxiety while you are in the chair. Sorry you had such a bad experience, certainly, my impression is that some medical/dental procedures would be considered torture if done under different circumstances, so you are not alone in your fear.

[yankeepants]

33. More like bees buzzing, Will

[hamsterjill]

52. Head phones, my dear!

Up, volume!!!

[csziggy]

70. Both my dentist and my oral surgeon give the patients headsets

And our choice of music to listen to. If the drill really bothers you, bring some your own heavy metal or really loud music and crank it up!

And yes, both dentists use nitrous when needed. Frankly, even if the drill sound bothers you, while on nitrous you won't care. You'll just float along. You can hear it but it like everything else is happening in a different world.

The one thing I insist on being sedated for is extractions, but that is mostly because of the sadistic dentist I had as a kid. Dentistry has come a long way since those dark ages - my childhood dentist was only one step above a barber with a pair of pliers and a bottle of whiskey!

[In_The_Wind]

15. It's a little bit like being stoned on pot.

It can help you to relax through your visit. It's effects end before you leave the dental chair so don't worry about it.

[RadiationTherapy]

16. Is there any potential you could toughen up, chill, and let the specialist do his/her work?

Is there any possibility you are overblowing how nervous you are going to be?

[WillParkinson]

21. No.

After ending up in the emergency room after a tooth extraction because the dentist did nothing about it, no, I really don't think I'm blowing it out of proportion.

I went to a place that does twilight dentistry and she wouldn't even attempt it because I was so nervous.

[RadiationTherapy]

31. My daughter was given valium for her 'dental anxiety'. She took it ahead of time

but it wasn't strong enough. I bred a drug-resistant spawn it seems. Good luck. Hope it sorts out alright.

[Dappleganger]

66. That's an option for normal folks...

not those of us with anxiety issues. I had very bad experiences as a kid with braces, so going to the dentist can really send me for a loop.

Some people are so bad that they'll bite the dentist or assistant because of the anxiety. Not good! People with anxiety can't just "chill out" on their own, they lack the chemical makeup to do so w/out outside help.

[guitar man]

17. Yeah

Ran it on my '70 Barracuda for a while, took me from the mid-11s down to the low 10s :evilgrin:

[MiddleFingerMom]

19. I can not recommend nitrous oxide highly ENOUGH!!!!!

.
.
.
Growing up and into young adulthood, I had the most horrendous
experiences with dental work (and I had a lot done). Various
dentists would shoot me up with Novocain... and shoot me up
with Novacain... and shoot me up with Novacain... etc. etc. etc.
.
They would finally start to work in frustration and I would look
like Bill Murray in "Little Shop of Horrors" (though I wasn't having
the LEAST bit of fun).
.
A dentist finally used a combination of Novacain AND nitrous
oxide (has anyone mentioned this is known in layman's terms
as "laughing gas"?)
.
There was no pain. There was no tension. There was no problem
what... so... EVER. I was almost disappointed when he would
step back and announce that he was finished for the day.
.
This dentist was young and cool and he would schedule my
co-worker and me (from a factory) for the last appointments
of the day (so that there were no other patients in the waiting
room). He would crank up the Hendrix (REALLY crank it up) and
tease his dental hygienist about her choice of music (she had
actually gone to see the BeeGee's the night before one visit).
.
He would also FUCK with us MIGHTILY --cracking stupid jokes
and saying the most bizarre and ridiculous things to make us
crack up during the whole process.
.
.
.
I miss him. I've only had one woman in my highly-checkered past
that I think of as "the one that got away".
.
.
.
And one man.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
That dentist.
.
.
.
GO FOR THE NITROUS!!!
.
.
.
Even if your insurance won't cover it.
.
.
.
GO FOR THE NITROUS!!!!
.
.
.

[Blue_Tires]

20. Years ago I had a friend who ran it in his Firebird...

:crazy:

[Xithras]

29. Heh. Years ago, I had a friend who ran it in his VW Beetle.

Not for very long though.

:nuke:

[Duer 157099]

22. As someone upthread noted, it makes you not care

You won't care about hearing the drill, you will feel *something* that, under normal circumstances, you would interpret as "pain" but under NO, it's just a curious sensation--you feel it, but just don't care.

Everyone should try it at least once while undergoing dental procedure, just to know what it does.

Think of it as an experiment and enjoy the ride. Pay attention to how you are feeling and what you are thinking, it's quite amazing when you pay attention to what it is doing.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. My Wife Can't Have Major Work Without N2O

It really calms her down so the local is more effective, even if it's psychosymatic.

She had implants due to a botched root canal and there's a LOT of work that's done. She also says it helps her not get fidgety when she's in the chair for more than an hour.

I don't even use novacaine. Didn't use it to have a crown put on a tooth that blew out because of the filling i got when i was 13. But, my wife wouldn't go anywhere where they don't do nitrous.
GAC

[cyberswede]

24. "Just Say N2O"

We all wanted t-shirts with this slogan...back in those halcyon days of youthful indiscretion.

[ProfessorGAC]

26. Does That Mean Yesterday?

:evilgrin:
GAC

[DFW]

25. Sure--all the time

It only affects me mildly, but it does mildly dull the senses. Just make VERY sure, your head is clear before you get up
and especially before you drive. If your dentist knows what he or she is doing, they won't let you walk out of there before you show no signs at all of lingering influence.

That having been said, it's no problem at all, and has no side effects.

[Xithras]

27. Not to scare you off...

...but you should be aware that not everyone reacts well to it. I had a dentist try to gas me about 10 years ago, and the result was panicked disorientation. They kept increasing the amount, but it just wouldn't put me under. They stopped when I apparently swung a fist at one of the assistants (I really don't remember doing it, but I missed anyway).

After that, my dentist went a more traditional route. I now take a valium before having any procedures done. It does the trick nicely!

I did once make the mistake of letting the dentist substitute Halcion for valium though. The effect of that drug is...odd. I felt like I was hypnotized! I could feel the pain and was freaking out in my head, but I couldn't convince my body to move and actually respond to the freakout (which, in hindsight, was probably a good thing). Halcion is apparently supposed to induce amnesia, so you don't remember the panic afterward, but that didn't work on me. I remember the procedure, and my panic, very clearly.

My dentist has wanted to experiment with other drugs since then, to find one that worked on me better, but I've refused. I take a valium to calm down, a local to kill the pain, and I'm a happy camper.


To be entirely honest though, my wife and one of my kids have had nitrous, and they had no problems with it at all. Apparently it's just something about me.

[WillParkinson]

28. Valium...

The last dentist I tried to see gave me 2 to take. Did nothing for me.

[Xithras]

30. Interesting.

Just goes to show that everybody reacts a little differently to these drugs. Give me 10mg of Valium and I turn into the happiest, mellowest person on the planet :)

[NightWatcher]

32. make sure you eat a little snack an hour or two before you go....and enjoy the ride

hell, take your ipod and enjoy

[dimbear]

34. The reason it's hard to find nowadays.......

causes liver damage with longterm low dosages, so it requires special ventilation etc. to protect the staff.

Too bad because it's great for the patient.

[Sanity Claws]

35. Most people react well to nitrous oxide

But not all. I couldn't tolerate it. It made my head and stomach spin. I would never try it again.
The next time I had dental work I was given a small dose of ambien one hour before the procedure. I would opt for that if I ever have dental work done again.

[marzipanni]

36. I'd look into this

http://www.laserdentistry.com/

[riderinthestorm]

37. It did nothing for me.

I have major dental anxiety so my dentist tried it but it didn't have any effect. The pain, anxiety and that drilling noise! Gah! It had no effect. I was a wreck after that and didn't go back for a couple of years until driven back by a toothache.

He then tried valium and that didn't work either. I suspect my anxiety is so high that nothing works - my body "overrides" the meds. A funny aside, it's the same with horses. If their anxiety level is too high before the procedure the tranquilizer just doesn't have any effect.

Good luck.

[WillParkinson]

40. Thanks for this...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has these issues.

[hippywife]

38. I've had it at the dentist.

I didn't like it in the least. It made me more stressed and tense than relaxed. You may respond differently, though.

Wishing you luck. :hug:

[Sugarcoated]

54. Same here

But then again, I'm extremely sensitive to drugs. I got panicky the one time they used nitrous oxide on me. I don't get too freaked over dental stuff, but I had a new dentist and he was sort of urging me to use it, so I thought, what the heck. Valium, or any other similar drugs, including the oxy's and Vicodin, any strong pain meds, all make me terribly nauseous. When people get all excited about an Percaset prescription, I don't get it. I mean, I know they say it's great, but it doesn't give me any pleasure.

[hippywife]

56. Unfortunately

I'm all to accustomed to pain relievers due to various accidents and health conditions. Those I can handle just fine, but the nitrous was something else altogether.

[zen_bohemian]

39. yep, I use it at the dentist all the time

it works fine. When it's time to come down they crank up the oxygen and you are all right in minutes before leaving the office. THe only side effect I have is sometimes I get a headache from it.

[foxfeet]

41. I thought it was fabulous.

I was aware of what was going on, but felt no pain and, most importantly for you, I suspect, I just plain didn't care about any of it. It was very helpful and in no way traumatic for me. Haven't needed it for years, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it again, if needed. My dentist takes pain control very seriously. He's no Doctor Feelgood and doesn't just hand out prescriptions for pain meds willy-nilly, but while you're in his chair, he does his job very well.

[Swede]

42. We got a tank of it one time.

We opened her up in the car and got a pleasant buzz. The guys cigarette ends burned extra brightly for some reason.

[NNadir]

43. I had four wisdom impacted teeth done at once under its effects.

I was aware of the surgery, but frankly I couldn't have cared less. I was mostly interested in the dentist's conversation with his assistant about his trip to Russia.

It was actually quite pleasant.

[Dappleganger]

67. Our son just had his wisdom teeth removed yesterday morning...

but the oral surgeon used IV anesthesia (very light). When the kid woke up he kept asking when the dr. was going to begin--he couldn't believe that two hours had already passed, lol. It took him awhile to wake up for some reason but otherwise he did great.

[The Midway Rebel]

44. Yes. Lots.

Nitrous Oxide gas is the propellant charge in a can of whipped cream. There is usually enough gas at the end of a can to sample the effects of the gas. Make sure you are sitting down. They don't call it laughing gas for nuttin'!~

[raccoon]

45. Yes. I guess it's a good thing I'm not a dentist. It would be so tempting. nt

[Bennyboy]

46. today?????!!!???

They use it for dental procedures? I thought it was just something you do at Dead or Phish shows!!!~

[Deep13]

47. Why are so many dentists steering away from it?

I don't think I have ever been given a real explanation for that?

[SteppingRazor]

48. You mean as administered by a professional dentist in a sterile environment? Um, no. n/t

[TrogL]

49. Yeah, I was laughing so hard the dentist was having problems with me

He was trying to line up a filling and I couldn't hold still.

[tonekat]

50. Not since I used to lock myself in my bedroom...

...with the whipped cream thingy and a box 'o whippets with Floyd on the stereo.

[Rambis]

53. Hippy crack!

love it! when I go to the dentist I always tell them to turn it up all the way I want to hear that wha wah wah wah- What you get for hanging around dead tour. At one point during my wisdom teeth extraction I saw Phil Lesh coming at me with a baseball bat that had a massive drill bit coming out of it. Phil was grinning really big too.

[LiberalEsto]

55. It's wonderful

Back in the 70s I went to an awesome dentist who dispensed nitrous oxide and played great jazz at a fairly high volume while working on a patient. The music drowned out the sound of the drill, and I couldn't feel a thing.

[Digit]

57. Yes, when I had a wisdom tooth pulled

It was wonderful. The tooth came out easily as there was only one straight down root and I treated myself to an IHOP breakfast afterwards.

[snagglepuss]

58. I am absolutely phobic about dentists. Won't let a drill near me without nitrous.

Some of my teeth are so sensitive that even massive doses of freezing don't work. There's info online that explains that phenomena.

Nitrous actually knocks me out but I quickly awake when roused. I believe it is more effective than twilight dentistry. That said I would not get root canals done with nitrous. I'll only get root canals with complete anesthesia but that is only because I had some very bad experiences with dentists.


However I also had one life threatening experience when under general anesthesia for a root canal and the procedure was botched on top of it. What happened is that I was vomiting during the procedure because my body reacted to the anesthesia.

When I underwent surgery to correct the botched root canal, the surgeon told me that a mild sedative should be given prior to general anesthesia to prevent reactions similar to mine, so prior to the general anesthesia I took a sedative and had no problem whatsoever. Since then I have had other root canals with general anesthesia but have confirmed beforehand that I will receive a sedative.


Hope this info helps. I really feel for you. I highly recommend nitrous. If you opt for it make sure you feel blissful before the dentist begins. All my best.

[WillParkinson]

59. My experience...(kinda gross so be aware)

I realize that I did not fully explain what happened with the dentist I went to so wanted to give the background on it.

They decided to remove all 4 of my wisdom teeth at the same time. I had never had any dental work done so wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't nervous at all. They gave me some pills that put me into a semi-conscious state. I don't remember the surgery at all. After it was done Paul brought me home and put me to bed.

When I woke up my face, chest and pillow were covered in blood.

Paul called the dentist and told them that I was still bleeding. They said some bleeding was natural. Paul said, 'No, you don't understand. He's BLEEDING.' They had me come back in to look at it. They told me to go home and they'd call me and tell me what I needed to do. A few hours passed and they did not call. Paul called them back and was told, 'We told you to go to the emergency room.' (Which they did not.)

I went to the emergency room and sat for a couple hours, getting up every so often to spit the blood that was pooling in my mouth.

When I finally got in the doctor examined me and got angry. He actually called the dentist and said they never should have sent me to the hospital and that it was something they should have taken care of themselves. The dentist told him that about once a month they'd have someone who had issues.

The doctor had me hold my mouth open while they stuck a long needle into my mouth and gums to stanch the bleeding. After it finally stopped they sent me home.

I went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and promptly passed out. I got up off the floor and passed out again.

So now you know what my issue is with dentists and why I'm so afraid to go to them.

[riderinthestorm]

61. Oh my gawd! That's terrible! I am so sorry!

My problems stem from a purported "children's dentist" who would give me nitrous AND strap me into the seat so he could do his work. Unfortunately for me, the nitrous has no effect (this is an obvious chemistry issue with me - cocaine, heroine and even MJ have no effect for me. I can drink all night and wake up the next morning without a hangover. In fact, I've never had a hangover in my life!). The pain was excruciating AND my crying about it was taken as some sort of typical side effect. My teeth are extremely sensitive and it's virtually impossible for any dentist to knock out enough sensation to even get them cleaned.

I hadn't been to the dentist in about 5 years when I went as an adult. My dentist told me the nitrous would work wonders. I was dubious but decided to try it for the root canal he PROMISED would be pain-free with the nitrous. No way. The tooth shattered as he worked on it, and he had to extract it piece.by.piece.by.piece. I was totally freaking out as it hurt like a son of a bitch and he couldn't get the area blocked enough with novacaine to do it properly. It was a 3 hour nightmare with a mouth wound that bled for days afterwards because of the butchering to get the shattered tooth parts out (the tooth roots were wrapped around my jaw).

I took the valium for the next visit 2 years later - a cleaning only - but was so freaked out that even the cleaning was horrific. Even though I know I have cavities I havent been able to screw up enough courage to get them addressed. I seriously believe I may need to have total sedation to work on them. My teeth are so sensitive and the combination of my childhood dentist and my more recent dentist have me convinced nobody understands what agony it is for anyone to even prod my teeth let alone do major work.

I too am terrified of the dentist. I hope you can go. I wish I could. Hugs to you.... :hug:

[WillParkinson]

69. I don't have a choice anymore...

I'm about to lose a lower tooth (probably this weekend it'll break loose). Since the accident my teeth have been kind of 'pushed'. I'm guessing I clamped down right before hitting the cherrypicker and that screwed up the teeth more than they had been.

[Rhiannon12866]

63. Yikes! I am so sorry that you had such a horrible experience!

When my brother had his wisdom teeth removed, he had to stay overnight in the hospital. It was considered surgery. And I was told that it was unusual to remove all four of them at once, that they usually only remove two at a time. x(

My advice is to find a dentist that you trust and then to stick with him or her. And it's not as easy as it sounds. When I was a kid, we moved, and my mother took my brother to a new dentist who was local and everytime he went, my brother had more than one filling. I rarely had dental problems, so continued seeing the old dentist, though he was much farther away. But once I needed a check-up because I was going away to camp, so my mother got me an appointment with the new guy. My mother flipped out because he said I had six cavities, which I'd never had before. So she took me back to the original dentist who told her that I had only one. She then brought my brother in and the old dentist said that they were probably filling worn spots, which might or might not turn into cavities. Needless to say, we all stuck with the original dentist from then on, because he was trustworthy, though my brother will have a mouth full of silver for the rest of his life... :(

I'd ask around, find a dentist that someone has had for a long time and that they trust. I'd recommend mine highly, she's just the best, competent, caring and a fellow liberal, if you're anywhere Albany, NY... :hi:

[kentauros]

60. I went to a nitrous and illegal absinthe party once...

They had "obtained" a half-full bottle of nitrous from probably a dentist's office so we filled balloons and breathed it in that way.
Everyone was laughing!

The absinthe was the real deal, imported illegally from Amsterdam. However, I didn't see what all the fuss was about. Sure, I guess if you drank enough over the years you'd turn into Van Gogh, but that half ounce I had didn't impress me at all. I can get the same taste and alcohol from ouzo.

[SPKrazy]

62. yes, both legally and I guess illegally

although it is sold as "whip cream chargers", and spray whipping cream is (or was) propelled by nitrous oxide and if you hold the lever down you could get nitrous out of the can without the cream lol

That's been 30 years ago or so,

at the dentist's office even longer

[rbnyc]

64. Only at Dead Shows in the 80s.

:hi:

It got pretty scary sometimes. I wonder how many IQ points I actually lost. Honestly, I've had lots of different experiences and I think this is one of the most dangerous substances a person can overuse recreationally. Some whip-it circles got pretty ugly. Anti-social, covetous, drooling zombies not talking and waiting for their turn.

But, I'm sure at the dentist, it's great.

[Dappleganger]

65. Xanax works well for me...

just had three big cavities taken care of a week ago and it worked quite well. Not sure what kind of work you're getting done but it may be worth it to ask your PCP for a prescription for a small number just for dentist visits (make sure someone drives you there and back).

[gvstn]

68. See post #63

Find a new dentist.

I hated my childhood dentist. He used to give the Novocaine with one hand and drill with the other. It always hurt while he was drilling and then after I left the Novocaine actually took effect and my tongue was swollen for hours.

When I was about 21 and realized I hadn't been to the dentist for a few years since my mother stopped making appointments and so I picked a new one and have been with the office for 20 years. Completely different experience. The original older dentist was mellow and sang along with the radio while working. No rushing through things. Just "fixing thing up for you" in a kindly manner. The new guys he brought in were same personality types. I miss him since he retired but either of the new guys are fine and have same easy going personalities. All the hygienists are as nice as can be.

I really think there is a dentist's office out there that can help put you at ease. I think trust is your major issue rather than fear of pain. Do you have terrible anxiety when having your teeth cleaned? Or is it only fillings that make you so nervous?

****
BTW, my dentist's office refers extractions to an oral surgeon. I guess that is pretty clever of them. I had my four wisdom teeth pulled which was fairly simple because I had no impactions. But I did have a poor reaction to either the anesthesia or particular antibiotic. I couldn't get out of bed the next day I was so weak from vomiting etc. No problems with my teeth but I wouldn't want to go through that experience again.

[Skip Intro]

71. Yes! Do it! It is wonderful. nt

[AsahinaKimi]

72. I know when I had a root canal

I had the gas. They told me, after which not to drive a car for at least a few hours. I wondered why until after It was administered. Oh wow, keep your marijuana, that stuff was awesome. I sat in the dental surgeons lobby for three hours, and felt like I could have flown into space. It was awesome.

My Dad is a Dentist. He even had that stuff in his office for years, and I never was told about it. I guess now, I know why!