Overview

• Buenos Aires University’s Faculty of Dentistry has launched an experimental conscious inhalation sedation service using oxygen and nitrous oxide to aid dental care for patients with autism, Down syndrome and severe phobias.
• The first-level sedation protocol was designed over two years by odontologists and cardiologists from UBA’s Cátedra de Medicina Interna and is administered in a cardioprotected Clapar II clinic.
• Since its early July debut, three special-needs patients have received treatment under the pilot program, with plans to expand access to about 4,500 eligible individuals.
• The Asociación de Anestesia, Analgesia y Reanimación de Buenos Aires has publicly called for anesthesiologist oversight, citing concerns that sedation depth could unpredictably deepen.
• Conscious sedation with nitrous oxide and oxygen is already standard in the United States and Europe and allows dentists to administer mild sedation without full general anesthesia.