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nitrous suddenly quit working

D

davidtfull

Junior member
Joined
Oct 17, 2018
Messages
1
For the past forty years I have always used nitrous for dental work without any problems. I could tell when it took effect as the office would slowly drift away, voices would fade away, and I could care less what the dentist was doing to me. Yes I felt some pain, but it felt like it was a delayed reaction as by the time I felt it, it was already over with. Most of the time an hour would go by in minutes and I would just have a vague memory of the procedure. I always wear headphones and I would hear the first song and bammm I would be listening to the last song an hour later with no memory of what happened in between. But the last three visits I've only managed a slight buzz and felt and heard everything they were doing. I told them it was not having the desired effect and they told me it was at the highest setting.

The other thing I noticed was before I could smell the gas and the smell was more pronounced the more it was having an effect. Now I can barely smell it all. I have to wonder if they are short changing me on the gas (keeping it at a lower setting than before) or if their equipment is no longer working properly. The other thing I noticed is that I used to have to urinate immediately after coming around, and that too has changed. There is no urgency to urinate which I assumed was my body's way of clearing the drug. Baffled as to why something that has worked so well in the past would suddenly not work at all. I don't even get the "giggles" any more like I used to. The last three visits have been cleanings every six months. So this problem has been ongoing for almost two years. I've had root canals, crowns and titanium pins inserted on just the gas and didn't feel a thing. Every tooth in my mouth has been capped or crowned, painlessly. Now I feel everything while having my teeth cleaned.
 
3 possible explanations
1. they have switched masks to the Axess system which doesn't work well at all
2. The flow meter is broken
3. The hose is leaking or disconnected
I have seen all three. As to #2 they need to use an oxygen meter to test the actual percentage of O2 and by derivation you will know the N2O concentration.
 
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