Gas anaesthesia at dentist

[damo70]

was i the only one one who got held down in the dentists chair and got sent to sleep with the black rubber masks and hoses in the l8 70s and 80s?Did any one else find it better than injections and hearing cracking noises and having teeth extracted under injections,I liked the sleep and prefered the gas does anyone else feel the same???

[jbz2079]

The breathing circuit type used for a gas induction can have make a difference to how you feel about it.

Old style rubber breathing bags, pipes and black rubber masks usually mean that before you even notice the gasses you get the heavy smell of rubber.
The newer type with silicone green or blue rubber breathing bags and plastic pipes and a plastic clear mask have virtually no smell, some people feel a lot less claustaphobic with the newer type.

Anaethetist's preferred induction methods also play a big part in our perception too.

The old way to do it was give 75% nitrous oxide and 25% oxygen till the patient was fairly sleepy then add the anaesthetic agent in gradually increasing steps usually while squeezing the breathing bag to increase the amount of gas to each breath. The agent was usually halothane.
Musty smelling, but quick acting.

The new way would seem to be apply the mask to the patients face having the breathing system already primed with a mixture of either 5% halothane or 8% sevoflurane and 50% nitrous and oxygen and ask the patient to take a big deep breath and hold it as long as possible.

I have experianced this and can say that you usually don't remmember taking the next breath.
Halothane can be a bit of a shock and quite strong, but as it's so quick you hardly notice.
Sevofluraine is was waiting to smell the agent and thought that it would come with the next breath and I was out before it registered.

[damo70]

Doesnt Sev smell like plastic binbags?I had two wisdom teeth removed in a hospital recently.They were aware that i had a phobia of Iv and personally asked for a gas induction.The gas smelt just like a black binbag smell.very quick.Not the smell and sensations of buzzing like the old black mask gassings.Not sure that The new agents and plastic masks are as enjoyable to go to sleep with.I say the black rubber mask/hose made me nervous but maybe in a good way.

[jbz2079]

I think the plastic smell might actually be from the breathing circuit rather than the sevofluraine, They use green rebreathing bags that are latex free nowadays and they tend to smell a bit like plastic

[Will_iam]

Certainly not and it was the worst experience of my life up to that point. What I was doing getting knocked out by gas as a young child I don't know but I just done what the man said and I've struggled with trust ever since. This tune reminds me of the experience....