Anxiety reduction with nitrous oxide: a permanent solution?

Anxiety scores of highly fearful children were registered during a control period after their curative treatment. The average length of the control period was seventy-two weeks. The anxiety scores of the children who were treated curatively with the aid of nitrous oxide were significantly lower than those of children from a behavioral management group. All the semiannual check-ups were performed without the use of nitrous oxide. Anxiety scores of all the children during the control period correlated closely with the anxiety scores of the curative treatment before and after the control period. It was concluded that nitrous oxide helps children to lower their anxiety levels during a long period after treatment. Influencing anxiety in highly anxious children might be characterized as a long-term process.