Page 11 - WOM SUMMER 18-19

The hidden benefits of

Relative Analgesia

itrous Oxide sedation or relative analgesia the patient is ambulatory and safe to leave your you and patients can experience with the use of
is the safest form of sedation available to practice and drive. Nitrous Oxide and in the hope that you will revisit or
the Dentist. It’s effective for the majority of explore the topic further. I commend Nitrous Oxide
patients and particularly useful in treating Some patients take a little longer than others to to you as a valuable and safe tool to use in practice
Nchildren. I think every practice should be recover from Nitrous Oxide sedation, but unlike and I encourage you to explore the opportunities it
able to offer Nitrous Oxide for the benefits to their sedative drugs like Midazolam or Valium it leaves provides.
patients and themselves. That’s right, Nitrous Oxide the body quickly with no residual. If you use oral or
provides a lot of benefits to the Dentist; a less stressed intravenous drugs the effects can hang around for
patient means a less stressed Dentist and in these hours and so patients need an escort and someone
competitive times being able to make patients to drive them home. On that note, if you do use oral
more comfortable and less fearful at the dentist is a sedation like Temazepam or Valium for example you Relative Analgesia Full Day Course
significant advantage. Nitrous Oxide also provides are responsible for the patient when they exit your
By Dr. Michael Walker, analgesia which is an often forgotten component practice, this is not true for Nitrous Oxide. COURSE DATES
NSW BDS, FPFA of this technique. Patients often react to pressure SYDNEY MELBOURNE SYDNEY
and movement even when there is effective local
anaesthesia, Nitrous Oxide analgesia provides an 16th March 2019 27th July 2019 21st September 2019
effective relief from this.
VENUE: to be advised
The other great thing about Nitrous Oxide /Oxygen FEE: $990.00 inc gst and includes catering
sedation is that due to its safety it can be administered
to many and variously medically compromised
patients, because even at a maximum dose of SUMMARY
seventy percent Nitrous Oxide [N2O-70 %] you are This is a course that meets the standards of the International
Federation of Dental Anaesthesiology Societies. The first half of the
still providing thirty percent Oxygen [O2 -30%] and day will be lecture style with the afternoon being hands-on.
that 30% oxygen is 50% higher than environmental air
which is 20% Oxygen. Nitrous Oxide is only as good as it is used and This course will enable participants to become proficient and
administered in your practice, and as I teach this, I confident in the administration of nitrous oxide in clinical practice.
No technique is fool proof. The medical status of the know many people come to courses with no or only
patient must always be continuously assessed as well undergraduate exposure. I am also a senior lecturer This course is a refresher for dentists wishing to update their theory
as the patient’s suitability. This is where appropriate in the Conscious Sedation Diploma at the University and practical skills in the delivery of relative analgesia. Participants
training comes in, in a well taught education program, of Sydney for people seeking an endorsed Dental will be given the opportunity to administer nitrous oxide – oxygen
taught by people that are educators and regularly Board qualification in intravenous sedation. I often sedation to each other, and to experience themselves them effects
use nitrous oxide in a practical situation. ask new candidates ”playing devil’s advocate” of the gases in a safe environment.
if they use oral sedation in practice. If the answer LEARNING OUTCOMES
I have used Nitrous Oxide in my practice for over 30 is yes, then I ask where did they obtain their • Learn the legal requirements to use RA
years and it is one of the most valuable tools in my formal training from . I often get a blank look from • Why should you use RA instead of other oral sedation
armamentarium. I say this as a dentist who holds a candidates, as this would be one of the first questions • How to use RA correctly
Dental Board of Australia endorsement in conscious posed to them if they had a problem with a patient. • Sedation within the dental practice
sedation, which allows me on any day of the week to • Current fees and charges for RA procedures
administer intravenous sedation using midazolam and Nitrous Oxide sedation is specifically excluded from
fentanyl. I employ registered nurses in my practice the Dental Board’s requirement that a Dentist must TOPICS
and have my own General Anaesthetic facility. So, I have a qualification (Diploma in Conscious Sedation) • Practical application of the use of relative analgesia on patients
can and do provide many levels of service to patients, if they administer sedation by any route. Any dentist • Usage of relative analgesia armamentarium
• Appropriate maintenance and sterilisation of equipment
but still Nitrous Oxide is an extremely valuable tool. can administer nitrous oxide [with training] to patients. • Indications and contra-indications of relative analgesia
This article was written to bring to light the benefits
The reasons that Nitrous Oxide / Oxygen sedation
is so valuable is that it can be used any time at a
moment’s notice. The patient does not need to fast INTERESTED?
(as with intravenous sedation) and there is no need
for an escort, because nitrous oxide does not really
chemically interact with the body, like Midazolam or CONTACT US AT 1300 305 267.
Valium. Once you turn the delivery of nitrous oxide off WE ARE DISTRIBUTING NATIONALLY.
at the mixer, the RA machine can give 100% oxygen
and the effects are completely reversed quickly and

8 WORD OF MOUTH SUMMER 18/19 WORD OF MOUTH SUMMER 18/19 9