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Monday, September 15, 2008

Nitrous Oxide

As of late, I have heard a lot of controversy regarding nitrous oxide use in the dental office. There have been many studies regarding employee exposure and safety. There seems to be some evidence that links miscarriages and offices that have nitrous oxide systems. I have reviewed a handful of these studies. (You can find just about any topic on PubMed.)

While I am not a research scientist, I have had some statistics and research experience. These studies indeed show that there is enough data to be concerned. I work in a fairly new office designed by Dr. Steve Friedrichsen. When he designed the office, he was very particular in choosing safety features, including the nitrous oxide systems. There is an inline scavenger system in each operatory’s nitrous oxide cabinet. Fortunately, there have been no miscarriages involving our staff.

I worked full time throughout my two pregnancies up until I delivered without any problems. With that being said, are we just lucky or is having a scavenger in place and using it the key?

Let me know what you think by posting comments below!

Welcome to my world.
Lisa

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