Abstract
AimTo assess the outcomes of dental treatment under inhalation sedation within a UK specialist hospital setting.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of the case notes of patients under 17 years of age who received dental treatment using inhalation sedation at a UK specialist setting during the period 2006–2011. Treatment outcomes were categorised into five groups: (1) treatment completed as planned, (2) modified treatment completed, (3) treatment abandoned in sedation unit and patient referred for treatment under general analgesia (GA), (4) treatment abandoned in sedation unit and patient referred for treatment under local analgesia (LA), (5) child failed to return to complete treatment.ResultsIn total, the case notes of 453 patients were evaluated. The mean age of the patients was 10.3 ± 2.9 years. Treatment was completed successfully in 63.6% of the cases, 15.9% were referred for treatment under GA, 11.2% failed to return to complete the treatment, 7.1% received modified treatment completed, and only 2.2% were referred for treatment under LA. Treatment outcomes were significantly associated with patient`s age (p = 0.002). The treatment outcome “treatment abandoned and child referred to be treated under GA” had significantly lower mean patient ages than the other outcomes.ConclusionsThe majority of children referred for inhalation sedation, completed their course of treatment. A significantly higher proportion of those in the younger age group required GA to complete their treatment.
Highlights
Dental fear and anxiety are well-known barriers for seeking dental care among paediatric patients (Welbury et al 2012)
One patient record was excluded because the patient was over 17 years of age and the remainder were excluded due to the fact that the dental treatment they required at the time of referral was no longer indicated when they attended the sedation unit
The lower mean age range seen for general analgesia (GA) referral in the previous studies can be explained by the fact that these studies aimed mainly to assess the pattern of referral, disease and treatment for children with ASA-I, II, III, and IV who had received GAs whereas the current study aimed to explore the outcomes of dental treatment using inhalation sedation (IS) in children with ASA-I, and II
Summary
Dental fear and anxiety are well-known barriers for seeking dental care among paediatric patients (Welbury et al 2012). Both conditions are multifactorial and caused by a complex interaction of genetic, constitutional and environmental factors (King et al 1997). Dental fear and anxiety have a negative impact on the child’s quality of life as well as on the quality of dental treatment received (Newton et al 2012). They can limit a patients attendance for treatment. It was reported that 23 million people with dental fear would be more willing to visit a dentist if a form of sedation was offered (Girdler and Hill 1998)
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