In today's dental practice, we prioritize the patient's comfort and treatment experience. Especially for those patients who are sensitive to pharyngeal reflexes, traditional oral treatments often cause them great discomfort and fear. Therefore, while ensuring the effectiveness of treatment, we, as dental hospitals, need to think about how to reduce the psychological and physical burden of patients.
As a comfort treatment, laughter-oxygen mixed inhalation has been widely used in oral therapy in recent years. Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide (N2O), mixed with oxygen (O2) in a certain proportion, can be inhaled to produce a calming and anxiety-relieving effect without causing the patient to lose consciousness. This treatment is undoubtedly a gentle and effective solution for patients with sensitive gag reflexes.
In this article, I will share my practical experience in the Oral Comfort Treatment Center of Shenzhen Stomatological Hospital of Southern Medical University (Pingshan), and discuss the application of laughter-oxygen mixed inhalation in the oral treatment of patients with sensitive gag reflex.
In our clinical practice, laughter-oxygen inhalation is not only an analgesic method, but also a way to comprehensively improve the treatment experience of patients. Its application, especially in patients with sensitive gag reflexes, has shown significant advantages. Laughter-oxygen inhalation reduces or eliminates fear and anxiety by changing the patient's psychological state, thereby greatly reducing the discomfort during oral treatment. Laughing gas itself has the characteristics of rapid onset and does not affect consciousness, so that patients can quickly return to a normal state after the end of treatment without affecting daily life. In the course of our center's application, we have found that the laughter-oxygen inhalation is particularly effective in patients with sensitive gag reflexes. These patients are often unable to complete treatment due to a strong gag reflex that causes hiccups during conventional oral treatment. After using the laugh-oxygen mixed inhalation, the patient's gag reflex was significantly weakened, and he was able to cooperate with the doctor to complete the treatment. Today, I would like to share with you a case of comfortable oral treatment for a patient with sensitive gag reflex under laughter-oxygen mixed inhalation.
Reception and evaluation
Recently, we received a 50-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with chronic periodontitis and underwent subgingival scaling. She suffers from significant gag reflex allergies, and her severe intolerance to intraoral manipulation makes the treatment extremely difficult. Before coming to our center, her past experience in dental treatment made her full of fear about this treatment. Before starting treatment, we conducted a thorough evaluation, including a medical history, drug allergies, and previous oral treatment experiences. After learning that she suffers from gag reflex allergy, we explained to her in detail the principle, process and expected effect of laughter-oxygen mixed inhalation to reduce her anxiety and gain her trust and cooperation.
Implementation of laughter-oxygen mixed inhalation
After ensuring that the patient fully understood and consented to the laughter-oxygen mixed inhalation, we began the treatment. Depending on the patient's needs, we adjusted the ratio of laughing gas to oxygen (the laughing gas concentration gradually reached 50%) and played soothing background music to ensure that she was in a relaxed state throughout the treatment. At the beginning of treatment, the patient inhales a pre-prepared laugh-oxygen mixture through the nasal mask. After a few minutes, she reported feeling relaxed. With the help of laughter-oxygen inhalation, we successfully carried out the oral examination and the necessary treatment procedures. Throughout the procedure, the patient's gag reflex was significantly weakened and there was no previous discomfort.
Recovery after treatment
At the end of the treatment, the patient stopped inhaling laughing gas and quickly returned to a normal state after five minutes of pure oxygen inhalation. She says the treatment was the most relaxing oral treatment experience she has ever had. She didn't feel any discomfort and continued to observe for half an hour before driving home on her own, which was unimaginable before. Through this patient's case, we can see the great potential of laughter-oxygen hybrid inhalation in improving the oral treatment experience of patients with sensitive gag reflex. It not only reduces the patient's discomfort, but also helps them better cope with the treatment process, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of treatment.
By applying laughter-oxygen inhalation in patients with sensitive gag reflex, we have not only improved the efficiency and quality of treatment, but also greatly improved the patient experience. In the future, we hope to further optimize this treatment to make it safer, more effective, and more accessible to more patients."
Zhao Liang, Oral Comfort Center, Department of Anesthesiology, Shenzhen Stomatological Hospital of Southern Medical University (Pingshan).
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