I have had NO during a dental procedure, but only once, and I also had oral sedation (Halcion). So driving myself home afterward was obviously not an option.
What about Nitrous use by itself - say, for a less minor procedure. Does it wear off quickly enough that one would be able to drive a few minutes after? I declined to have some work done the other day, partly because of that concern. cowardice had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Really. You believe me, don’t you? Basically I want to know whether, if I avail myself of the stuff in the future, I’ll need to take steps to avoid a DWI :eek:
The only person I’ve seen just after they’ve had nitrous is my daughter, Moon Unit, who seemed delighted at the gas during her dental work but seemed pretty normal once they took the mask off. Then again, I wasn’t trying to get her to drive a car
When I had wisdom teeth pulled they told me I should have someone to drive me home. The nitrous was heaven, but it literally wears off a minute or two after the mask comes off. I drove home with no problems whatsoever.
I spent time with my lovely dentist last week. The reason he gave me Nitrous instead of something else was so that I could drive myself home afterward.
Just had NO work done yesterday. Except that it isn’t NO any more. They mix NO with other gases to lessen the disorientation effect. I could listen to the music on the speakers all the way through and could tell you the lyrics. No pain, though. (No Novocaine, either, just gas.)
I don’t know if they switch to oxygen/air for the last few minutes or if that’s not even necessary. I was completely coherent and in what few senses I have left the instant the mask was lifted. Yes, I drove afterward.
You may be remembering or hearing stories about the way it used to be. I’ve been using gas for over 30 years, long enough to have been in the pure NO era. My dentist’s office was in a downtown skyscraper. There was a water fountain I always used to stop at halfway down the corridor.
One day after the session I found myself at the water fountain without remembering how I got there. Then I found myself at the elevator without remembering the additional walk.
Even then, one breath of fresh air was completely enough to clear my head.
In short, don’t worry. The worst case scenario is that you’ll be fine before you get to your car and the expectation is that you’ll experience no effect at all.
When I had a root canal years ago, the dentist used NO as well as a local anesthetic. When everything was finished, he put me on oxygen for 30 minutes before I was allowed to drive home. When I asked why, I was told that if I got into an accident, or stopped by the police (for some other reason) and found I was under the influence of NO, not only could I be charged, but the dentist as well.
IANAD Nitrous Oxide leaves the system really quickly. Within a matter of minutes it is effectively removed from your system just through standard respiration. A dentist/doctor that requires you to breath pure oxygen after administration of N[sub]2[/sub]O is probably just covering his/her ass from litigation. It doesn’t really chemically bind to anything for any long term. I think the mechanism of action is pretty unknown though. Of course when combined with all the crazy halcion type things they do for major surgery all bets are off. Anestheasiologists do not have my envy.
Do what the dentist or tech sez, but in general, you are fine after a brief rest. But again- do what they say. Maybe they gave you a little different mix or something. You can ask before you go in, just ask if you’ll be able to drive yourself home afterwards. Follow their advice.
I guess what it’ll boil down to for me is that I’ll ask the dental folks what their guidance is, should this scenario occur (prolly will… my teeth have roughly the same strength as a damp paper towel and I can’t go taking oral sedatives for garden-variety fillings).
I do know they cut off the NO shortly before finishing my work a few weeks back and had me on pure O2 for a bit; perhaps that was standard procedure for someone who might potentially be driving (not me - the NO was in addition to the Halcion so driving was not an option!)
