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Devices that continuously or intermittently administer nitrous oxide or a mixture of nitrous oxide and air to patients to produce conscious sedation during dental procedures. Unlike general anesthesia units, dental nitrous oxide anesthesia units are not used in conjunction with vaporizers because nitrous oxide is already in a gaseous state at normal room temperatures and pressures. Nitrous oxide anesthesia systems contain hardware that allows connection to a nitrous oxide gas tank or central nitrous oxide gas system in a wall unit and usually connect to a breathing circuit (typically a face mask) into which the anesthetic gas mixture is released. Flow regulators are used to regulate the amount of gas delivered. Since dental nitrous oxide anesthesia units deliver gases to the patient via a face mask, there is a possibility of leaks so that proper gas scavenging systems are an important part of the unit to help prevent the escape of exhaled gases. Also, since N2O is more rapidly diffused than nitrogen during desaturation, oxygen flush at the end of N2O administration is important to prevent hypoxia. Some dental units are equipped with capability for the oxygen gas flush to the patient at the end of procedures.
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