Paediatric dentistry in the new millennium: 3. Use of inhalation sedation in paediatric dentistry.

Provision of General Anaesthesia is now limited and restricted to the hospital setting. Sedation for paediatric patients is an essential tool in anxiety management and is used as an adjunct to behaviour management. Inhalation sedation with nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation to reach a plane of relative analgesia may be administered easily and safely to children in general dental practice and is a potential alternative to general anaesthesia.