FAQ

Dental Nasal Mask System for Nitrous Oxide Delivery

Revolutionizing Nitrous Oxide Delivery

The Safe Sedate® dental nasal mask is a single patient use, disposable nitrous oxide delivery system that will replace your existing standard nitrous oxide rubber goods and nasal hoods which can often be challenging and time consuming to disinfect.

This innovation in administering nitrous oxide reduces leakages, and that means major benefits for you and your staff. When used as directed, the Safe Sedate? dental nasal mask system has been tested and shown to significantly reduce the exposure of nitrous oxide in dental offices. The specially designed system administers nitrous oxide exactly where it's needed and evacuates significantly reduces residual gas that is not inhaled. The more precise gas administration helps you better comply with government regulations for leakage and also ensures the safety of your staff and patients.

The Safe Sedate® system reduces leakage by providing more direct delivery of the anesthetic through cannulas that are placed directly in the patient's nasal passage and a vacuum line evacuates significantly reduces residual gas that is not inhaled, reducing occupational exposure.

As a single-piece unit, the Safe Sedate® system does not require assembly, and therefore reduces the chance of leakage from parts that become dislodged or fail to fit together. The system, which works with existing analgesia delivery systems with minimal adjustment, was designed to comply with new standards developed by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Safe Sedate® covers a smaller area of the face than traditional masks, making it easier for dental staff to get a clear view of the patient's teeth and surrounding anatomy. Additionally, it is shorter than traditional systems and has less obstructive hoses, providing staff with better access to the work area.

The National Institute of Health has reported that "One of the historical difficulties with nitrous oxide delivery systems has been decontaminating or sterilizing them. While rarely discussed in prior decades, the emergence of hepatitis B and C plus the human immunodeficiency virus infections as a major public health problem has forced this issue to be re-examined...nasal masks specifically used for nitrous oxide sedation have been shown to be contaminated with a variety of human pathogens capable of transmission from one patient to another."

While the masks of most traditional systems can be cleaned, inner delivery tubes cannot, increasing the risk of bacterial or viral contamination. Since Safe Sedate® is a single-use mask, it reduces this risk and allows for a faster and easier sterilization process.

Single-use masks like Safe Sedate® can prevent the transmission of disease due to improperly sterilized multiple-use masks.

This can occur because the Safe Sedate? mask provides a more controlled flow of nitrous oxide to the patient ? resulting in a safer environment, reducing gas exposure and the patient not feeling dizzy or nauseated. Standard nitrous oxide systems ?flood? the patient with nitrous oxide over the nose and through a reservoir bag, resulting in significant leakage and exposure.

  1. First always remember to flush the patient with 100% oxygen at 6 lpm for 3 minutes prior to administering nitrous oxide.
  2. Make sure the cannula tips are properly inserted into 2 of the lower 5 holes on the mask. You should not be able to see the tips of the cannulas. If the cannulas are inserted too far this will agitate or create a burning sensation to the patient.
  3. Check the flow on the scavenger flowmeter. If set to higher than 45 lpm the gas may be scavenged away too quickly.
  4. Increase the flow of nitrous oxide up to 8 lpm.
  5. Increase percentage mix from 30-45 percent.
  6. Ask patient to breathe through nose.
  7. After a few minutes the patient should begin to feel the effects of the nitrous oxide.

Yes. If you use nitrous oxide in your office, it is extremely important that you monitor the level of nitrous oxide exposure for both the doctor and team. Research has shown that long term exposure to unsafe levels of nitrous oxide can have mild to severe health risks.1

NIOSH recommends not exceeding 25 ppm as a time-weighted average. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) suggests not exceeding 50 ppm for a normal 8 hour workday. It is suggested that both periodic testing and equipment checks be conducted. There are a variety of testing options available including inexpensive N20 detection badges/dosimeters. We recommend the Vapor-Trak Nitrous Oxide Detection Badge.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) states the following:

Preventive maintenance includes inspection, testing, cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment of various components. Worn or damaged parts should be repaired or replaced. Such maintenance can result in detection of deterioration before an overt malfunction occurs. Documentation of the maintenance program should be kept indicating the nature and date of the work performed, as well as the name of the trained individual servicing the equipment.2

The Safe Sedate® dental nasal mask system for N20 delivery has been tested and proven to scavenge excess nitrous oxide more efficiently than standard N20 delivery systems.3 Learn more about the Safe Sedate® Scavenging system by watching this video.

  1. Rowland et al. N Engl J Med (1992) 327: 993-997
  2. http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/anestheticgases/index.html
  3. Rademaker et al. JADA (February 2009) 190-199.

The Safe Sedate® dental nasal mask system is easy to install and use. However, it is strongly encouraged that all doctors and team members potentially involved in the administration of nitrous oxide watch a series of short instructional videos. This is to ensure that the Safe Sedate® masks are being used as intended as well as provide helpful tips and techniques that will result in a better experience for your patients.

Traditional nitrous oxide delivery systems with rubber goods (nasal hoods and rubber hoses) must be disassembled and disinfected after each patient use. After disinfection the system must be set up for the next patient. This can often be a time-consuming task for the dental team. Without proper disinfection it may be possible for disease and other infectious contaminants to be spread from patient to patient.

The Safe Sedate® nasal masks are a single patient use disposable system, eliminating the need for disinfection after each patient. Issues with potential patient to patient cross contamination can also be avoided. Your team will save countless hours on setup and disinfection.