Why do we use happy gas at the dentist in Walkerston?

We have a whole range of patients that come to visit us at the dentist in Walkerston. Our challenge is to meet everyone’s individual needs. We are always refining our skills and equipment to do this at Walkerston Dental.

While many patients are happy and able to visit the dentist when they need to and if they want to take advantage of some of our cosmetic dentistry treatments, some people need a bit more encouragement. At Walkerston Dental, we understand that some are quite anxious or might have had a traumatic experience earlier and if we can provide options to overcome their anxiety, it goes a long way to make the treatment more comfortable. If you are anxious, when you come to the dentist at Walkerston, we can offer assistive measures such as happy gas to make any treatment that you have at our practice more comfortable.

What is happy gas?

What we call ‘happy gas’ is a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen. The reason we give it that name is because it has the effect of calming you down and making you more relaxed. The advantages of using happy gas are:

• Relaxation – it contributes to a dissociative state where patients can forget about any fears they have around the dentist and lie back comfortable during treatment;
• Cooperative – happy gas is safe to be used alongside other anaesthetics. This means that you benefit from the normal, localised pain-relief as well as the inhalation sedation which assists with your emotional state;
• Fast-acting – happy gas begins to work almost immediately after you start using it. It is quickly absorbed into the blood stream. It also leaves the body quickly, so it does not affect your cognitive abilities after your treatment. You can go about the rest of your day;
• Safe – this is the same kind of gas that is used for pregnant women during labour. This should reassure you that it is safe to use.

If you think you might benefit from inhalation sedation with happy gas during your treatment, then you can talk to Walkerston Dental and a member of our team will help you. We hope to meet all your needs when it comes to supporting your dental procedure.