Comments on: Oral surgery with laughing gas. https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:18:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49407 ER Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:02:12 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49407 surgeons used to pride themselves on how fast they could operate. The quicker you were, not only the less pain you could cause, but also the less patients you would lose due to shock. I remember reading once about one of these quick surgeons who witnessed a demonstration of ether or chloroform. It was the first time he or many of his colleagues had ever seen this technology in action. The patient was put under, the operation performed, and the wound sutured up before the patient regained consciousness. When the witnessing surgeon saw what had happened, and what it implied for the future, he could only weep uncontrollably. I cannot express adequately my gratitude for having been born in an age where anesthetics and antibiotics were in common use in medicine. In fact, it is my contemplation of the billions of innocent people in history who have been forced to live and die before these technologies became available that has convinced me to be an atheist. We all die, and we all experience pain, and too many of us do so unnecessarily still. But I simply want no part of a universe where the Creator could allow that kind of suffering to so many for so long. surgeons used to pride themselves on how fast they could operate. The quicker you were, not only the less pain you could cause, but also the less patients you would lose due to shock.

I remember reading once about one of these quick surgeons who witnessed a demonstration of ether or chloroform. It was the first time he or many of his colleagues had ever seen this technology in action.

The patient was put under, the operation performed, and the wound sutured up before the patient regained consciousness. When the witnessing surgeon saw what had happened, and what it implied for the future, he could only weep uncontrollably.

I cannot express adequately my gratitude for having been born in an age where anesthetics and antibiotics were in common use in medicine. In fact, it is my contemplation of the billions of innocent people in history who have been forced to live and die before these technologies became available that has convinced me to be an atheist. We all die, and we all experience pain, and too many of us do so unnecessarily still. But I simply want no part of a universe where the Creator could allow that kind of suffering to so many for so long.

]]> By: RobVG https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49392 RobVG Mon, 18 Apr 2022 07:17:52 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49392 In 1934 my dad had all his teeth pulled. He was 17 at the time. It was the doctor's first time using nitrous oxide and my dad started turning blue halfway through the procedure. The doctor stopped the flow and as it wore off and dad started feeling the pain, my uncle held him down in the chair so the doctor could finish. In 1934 my dad had all his teeth pulled. He was 17 at the time. It was the doctor’s first time using nitrous oxide and my dad started turning blue halfway through the procedure. The doctor stopped the flow and as it wore off and dad started feeling the pain, my uncle held him down in the chair so the doctor could finish.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49386 RL Sat, 16 Apr 2022 18:09:27 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49386 Weird experience... The anesthesiologist started the flow of propofol, there was a slight cold ache in my arm- I remember being 100% conscious then suddenly smelling something burning and a shockingly loud burst of static, like the sound you sometimes get when unplugging the signal cables from a pair of old speakers... then the next thing I remember was waking up. Weird experience… The anesthesiologist started the flow of propofol, there was a slight cold ache in my arm- I remember being 100% conscious then suddenly smelling something burning and a shockingly loud burst of static, like the sound you sometimes get when unplugging the signal cables from a pair of old speakers… then the next thing I remember was waking up.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49380 RL Sat, 16 Apr 2022 13:04:57 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49380 We also looked at a 'filament jet'- liquid xenon was forced through a nozzle into vacuum, where it emerged as a frozen solid- it created a long string of xenon ice that would string out and vaporize as it hit the room temperature vacuum chamber walls. We also looked at a ‘filament jet’- liquid xenon was forced through a nozzle into vacuum, where it emerged as a frozen solid- it created a long string of xenon ice that would string out and vaporize as it hit the room temperature vacuum chamber walls.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49379 RL Sat, 16 Apr 2022 12:57:27 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49379 The Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography project was a massive project to develop the technology that has recently started to be used to make computer chips with the smallest feature sizes possible. At the time we were probably one of the largest users of xenon in the world- in a large vacuum chamber we had a jet of liquified xenon, we focused an extremely high power laser into the jet to create a xenon plasma- the plasma radiated significant amount of light at a wavelength of 13.6nm, we collected this light with mirrors crafted with atomic level precision (the mirrors had to have surfaces that were perfect to within a tiny fraction of the 13nm wavelength) and used the collected light to project a mask pattern onto silicon wafers coated with a photoresist. When I discovered that Xenon was a narcotic, I was also surprised to learn no one else on the project was aware of this fact. We had constant shipments of bottles of xenon coming in- we would use it and recapture it- after it became too contaminated we would ship it back to the supplier to have it re-purified... It was- by far- the most well-funded project I have ever worked on. It was funded by the government in partnership with a consortium of chip-making companies. The Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography project was a massive project to develop the technology that has recently started to be used to make computer chips with the smallest feature sizes possible.

At the time we were probably one of the largest users of xenon in the world- in a large vacuum chamber we had a jet of liquified xenon, we focused an extremely high power laser into the jet to create a xenon plasma- the plasma radiated significant amount of light at a wavelength of 13.6nm, we collected this light with mirrors crafted with atomic level precision (the mirrors had to have surfaces that were perfect to within a tiny fraction of the 13nm wavelength) and used the collected light to project a mask pattern onto silicon wafers coated with a photoresist.

When I discovered that Xenon was a narcotic, I was also surprised to learn no one else on the project was aware of this fact.

We had constant shipments of bottles of xenon coming in- we would use it and recapture it- after it became too contaminated we would ship it back to the supplier to have it re-purified…

It was- by far- the most well-funded project I have ever worked on. It was funded by the government in partnership with a consortium of chip-making companies.

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49378 podrock Sat, 16 Apr 2022 04:57:22 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49378 Had those things yanked when I was a teenager. Nitrous doesn't really give me a buzz, I just don't care that they are grinding my tooth away. The worst dental procedure I had was a root canal (I've had several.) The last millimeter of the nerve was still live and online. It was like an ice pick stuck into my brain, if the ice pick had been heated in a forge to red hot and attached to an arc-welding electricity source. I passed out. The look of relief on the doc's face when I came to was priceless. Had those things yanked when I was a teenager.

Nitrous doesn’t really give me a buzz, I just don’t care that they are grinding my tooth away.

The worst dental procedure I had was a root canal (I’ve had several.) The last millimeter of the nerve was still live and online. It was like an ice pick stuck into my brain, if the ice pick had been heated in a forge to red hot and attached to an arc-welding electricity source. I passed out.

The look of relief on the doc’s face when I came to was priceless.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49377 RL Sat, 16 Apr 2022 04:02:12 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49377 https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/92/3/865/39666/Xenon-Anesthesia https://www.nature.com/articles/24525 https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/92/3/865/39666/Xenon-Anesthesia

https://www.nature.com/articles/24525

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49376 RL Sat, 16 Apr 2022 03:58:31 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49376 If I remember correctly... xenon is just the right size and has just the right dipole moment to fit into the same neuron receptor as Nitrous... Trust me, the fact shocked me... but you can google it, it is actually considered an ideal anesthetic since it does not react chemically and create other unpredictable compounds... you don't metabolize it, you simply 'outgas' it once the supply is turned off... Unfortunately xenon is far more expensive than the traditional gasses used to knock people out. If I remember correctly… xenon is just the right size and has just the right dipole moment to fit into the same neuron receptor as Nitrous…

Trust me, the fact shocked me… but you can google it, it is actually considered an ideal anesthetic since it does not react chemically and create other unpredictable compounds… you don’t metabolize it, you simply ‘outgas’ it once the supply is turned off…

Unfortunately xenon is far more expensive than the traditional gasses used to knock people out.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49375 ER Sat, 16 Apr 2022 03:49:14 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49375 The NOx didn't seem to have any effect on me at all. The Novocaine shots certainly helped, although it still was the most unpleasant dental work I've ever had. But next time, I'll spring for the laughing gas, just in case. The Doc says I'm too old for deep anaesthetics. Too bad, I had some great stuff during my last colostomy... The NOx didn’t seem to have any effect on me at all. The Novocaine shots certainly helped, although it still was the most unpleasant dental work I’ve ever had.

But next time, I’ll spring for the laughing gas, just in case. The Doc says I’m too old for deep anaesthetics. Too bad, I had some great stuff during my last colostomy…

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2022/04/15/oral-surgery-with-laughing-gas/#comment-49374 ER Sat, 16 Apr 2022 03:44:01 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=93483#comment-49374 how can it react with your brain chemistry to knock you out? how can it react with your brain chemistry to knock you out?

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