Treatment outcomes of using inhalation sedation for comprehensive dental care

AIM: To assess the outcomes of dental treatment under inhalation sedation within a UK specialist hospital setting. METHODS: This 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. RESULTS: In 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. CONCLUSIONS: The 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.