Dental assistant here...nitrous oxide OK?

DBLovesMe

I am a pediatric dental assistant, and am exposed to nitrous oxide used on patients about 3 hours a day, minimum (the doc I work for is OBSESSED with using nitrous...)...I'm pretty sure the masks are made to minimize nitrous getting into the air, but I'm still around it quite a bit. 

I would have never thought about it, but one of my friends (5 months pregnant) who works in general dentistry said to one of my co-workers "You need to take the last patient of the day, because I cant  be around nitrous", got me thinking, and scared, really. 

 I'm only 5 weeks pregnant, so I do NOT want to tell the people I work with, but I can't just not sit chairside without getting noticed. So what do I do?  I feel like my doc won't be understanding, or he'll push the "Oh, the masks don't let nitrous leak out", so i'm really scared to tell him (he scares me lol).

 So what do you all think? Should I just tell the people I work with, and hope it doesn't spread around town like wildfire at only 5 weeks along? Or just wait until like, 8 weeks, be around nitrous, and hope for the best...?

I will call my DOC tomorrow, but I'm just curious as to what all of you think. 

mbgreenwalt

I work in a vet clinic and we use isoflurane and I am not allowed around it.  I was told to avoid all anesthestic gases.

pinkcha1k

I am interested in the answer to this as well!  I applied for Dental Assisting school 2 months ago and then this past week (the day after I registered for classes) I was shocked to find out I'm expecting! I'm still planning to continue on with school but I'm concerned about whether or not my limitations will get me cut from the program!

kdruffles

I know this is totally different, but with my 1st I worked as an O.R. nurse. I was around gases for about 10 hours a day, on top of cement( I worked in ortho). My baby was early but totally fine. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth. : )

MrsRae

I am a dental assitant as well.  With this pg I work in an office where we don't use nitrous, but with my DS, I had to tell sooner than I wanted.  I was taught in school that nitrous can cause m/c, and I am not willing to put myself or LO in danger.  Even if your office has top of the line scavenger masks, any time the pt talks or breathes out through their mouths a little bit is getting in the air.  Not worth it in my opinion.  Good luck making a decision.

onemorethyme

I would tell your boss and co-workers. It does cause miscarriages for sure! I think it would be pretty risky not to tell and keep wotking arroiund the stuff.. 

DBLovesMe

Okay, so what makes me more nervous now, is when I did call my Doc, she said it'd be perfectly fine working around nitrous, HOWEVER, she admitted right away that she had no idea whether or not it would have any effect on me.....

 Soo....that really got me nowhere. I think I'll just go directly to the source of my worry (the girl who originally said she couldn't be around nitrous) and ask her where she heard that, and if she says her doctor, then I'll take her word for it. 

Thanks for all the input- it's really getting me thinking. I'll let you know what I hear.

DHYGchica3

I'm a dental hygiene student, in our pharmacology class we learned that nitrous oxide IS contraindicated in pregnancy due to spontaneous abortion/pre-term labor. However this was discussed as in use in patients who are pregnant. As long as there is enough ventilation in the office I really don't think your exposure will be great enough for it to effect you or your child.

If you are really concerned you should talk to the dentist you work for. Also I hope that if you are taking x-rays in his office that you are wearing an exposure badge at waist level to ensure you are not getting excess radiation. Most offices are up to code and your chances are slim to none, but some offices are not.

DBLovesMe

DHYGchica3:

If you are really concerned you should talk to the dentist you work for. Also I hope that if you are taking x-rays in his office that you are wearing an exposure badge at waist level to ensure you are not getting excess radiation. Most offices are up to code and your chances are slim to none, but some offices are not.

 

I did actually tell the doctor I work for, and after a few congratulations, we discussed the nitrous. He said that it's perfectly safe to be around. We use the scavenger masks that suck the excess nitrous back in through a vacuum. Others have shared concerns about it coming out of kids mouths when they talk, but 99% of the time, we are using a rubber dam, which covers the whole mouth (and isolates the tooth we are working on) so there is no escaping nitrous. The child is solely breathing through their nose.

He told me it is 100% up to me, totally a personal preference. But medically, it should be just fine. He's been practicing for many years, and has had many of his assistants go through perfectly normal pregnancies multiple, multiple times, and everything has turned out OK.

I'm still going to work chairside, but I've decided not as much. For instance, if we have 6 patients that need work in a day, Instead of the other assistant and I splitting them 50/50, I'll take 2 and she'll take 4. I'll lower my exposure that way, but not completely.

As for x-rays, I do not work around x-rays, so I should be good there!

Thanks for all the help, and I hope the information that I have provided will help some others with doubt in their minds.