Nitrous oxide-oxygen: a new look at a very old technique.

Inhalation sedation utilizing nitrous oxide-oxygen has been a primary technique in the management of dental fears and anxieties for more than 150 years and remains so today. Though other, more potent, anesthetics have been introduced, nitrous oxide is still the most used gaseous anesthetic in the world. Administered properly with well-maintained equipment, the nitrous oxide-oxygen technique has an extremely high success rate coupled with a very low rate of adverse effects and complications.