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Safe Sedation Dentistry for Comfortable Care

Fear of the dentist is common in patients of all ages, but West County Dental is ready to change your perspective on coming to our office. Regular checkups are incredibly important to protecting the only set of adult teeth you have, so we do everything we can to make you feel confident about visiting our office for dental care.

It starts with a wealth of information here on our website, explaining away some of the confusing terms and treatments that make you uncomfortable. When you call our office to make an appointment, we’ll guide you through the patient forms and financial options as well as answer all your questions. Once you arrive, we can alleviate anxiety with sedation options to make the treatment fly by without pain. Explore the safe and easy ways to make dental care comfortable and stress-free through sedation dentistry.

What is Nitrous Oxide?

You may know nitrous oxide by one of its other names: laughing gas or happy gas. The colorless, odorless mix of nitrous oxide (N2O) and oxygen (O2) is safe to breathe through a mask over your nose and won’t make you fall asleep. Instead, you’ll feel a bit drowsy or even cheerful and relaxed—thus the name. Almost anyone who experiences anxiety or fear before a dental treatment will have a better experience thanks to nitrous oxide.

Using Nitrous Oxide in our Dental Office

When you meet Dr. Spalitto for an exam, he will show you the results and explain your overall tooth and gum health, including any potential issues that require further treatment. You’ll be able to fully understand any procedures we recommend so that the next steps are always your choice. If you do decide to pursue dental care in our office, making you calm and comfortable can include offering laughing gas and oral sedation for a painless and safe experience.

A Safe Form of Sedation

Healthy patients, even children, can use nitrous oxide safely, because the amount of gas can be adjusted before and during treatment for a dose that calms you but leaves you awake and breathing normally. Except for a drowsy feeling while the nitrous oxide wears off, there are no side effects of using laughing gas, although you may not remember the treatment clearly in your relaxed and sleepy state. When the procedure is over, patients are pleased with the experience and don’t mind that it seemed to pass by in a blurry flash.

Before any dental treatment, our office staff will provide a questionnaire covering your health and medical records to determine if and how to make sedation dentistry safe and effective for you; we encourage you to take your time to consider seriously and accurately complete this information. If there are any specific instructions for caring for your teeth and gums after a dental filling, root canal, or other procedure, our staff will cover those directions with you before administering the laughing gas.

To learn more about nitrous oxide sedation, or to schedule your dental visit, contact West County Dental in St. Louis today!

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