The Story of Nitrous Oxide...also known as N2O, or Laughing Gas or Sweet Air
Joseph Priestly, the man who discovered Oxygen, discovered Nitrous Oxide in either 1772 or 1793. Many people inhaled it for recreational purposes. (No TV then) Poet Robert Southey wrote, "I am sure the air in heaven must be this wonder working gas of delight".
At first the only use was for entertainment. That’s right, it was discovered that people who breathed in N2O acted silly. So for the next 40 years or so the primary use of N2O was for recreational enjoyment and public shows. So called nitrous oxide capers took place in traveling medicine shows and carnivals, where the public would pay a small price to inhale a minute's worth of the gas. People would laugh and act silly.
In 1844 a dentist, Dr. Horace Wells, saw one of these shows and noticed a man taking N2O smash his shin into a low bench and laugh. When the dentist asked him about it later the man stated that it seemed funny to him then but it hurt like hell now (So the story goes). The next day the dentist had one of his own teeth removed while under the effects of Nitrous Oxide. What is extraordinary is that this was the first time any type of sedation anesthesia was used. Prior to this there was no effective way of anesthetizing a patient for any dental of medical surgical procedures
The story does not end happily, however. In January 1845, Dr. Wells demonstrated his discovery of the effects of nitrous oxide at the Harvard Medical School in Boston. A patient was anesthetized and a tooth was extracted, but during the demonstration the patient complained that he felt some discomfort. Even though the experiment had been successful (in that the patient had only felt slight discomfort and not excruciating pain), the suspicious audience was unhappy, and booed Wells from the stage. This public humiliation eventually led to Dr. Wells losing his reputation as a dentist, and finally to his suicide three years later. Ironically, 150 years after his premature death, his discovery would be adopted by dental practices worldwide, and Wells would be given the accolade - the "Discoverer of Anesthesia".
Nitrous oxide is a very safe and popular agent still utilized by dentists today. It is much less toxic than alternatives, such as chloroform, with far less risk of explosion than ether. The main use for N2O is usually as a mild sedative and analgesic. It helps to allay anxiety that many patients may have toward dental treatment (even cleanings), and it offers some degree of pain killing ability.
The overall effect of Nitrous Oxide is to ‘take you away’ from the dental experience. A patient having N2O for the first time was asked about his experience he said, “I was sitting here watching the other guy feel some pain.” The fact was there was no other guy there.
How do I know if N2O is for me?
We will happy to let you try the Nitrous Oxide for a few minutes so you decide if it will be helpful for you. Because it does not put you to sleep you will know and let us know if it will be helpful for you during dental procedures…even cleanings.
