Comparison of oral triazolam and nitrous oxide with placebo and intravenous diazepam for outpatient premedication.

Triazolam was evaluated as an oral sedative agent for dental outpatients in two studies in the oral surgery model. The first study demonstrated that 0.25 mg of triazolam in combination with nitrous oxide provides therapeutic effects but with a more rapid recovery than a 0.50 mg dose in combination with nitrous oxide. In the second study, triazolam produced a significant anxiolytic effect that was comparable to the effects of diazepam titrated to the usual clinical endpoint (mean dose = 19.3 mg). Less impairment in cognitive-psychomotor impairment and ambulatory function was seen after triazolam in comparison with diazepam. Triazolam appears to be a safe, effective alternative to parenteral sedation with a benzodiazepine for dental outpatients.