Analysis of changes and trends in the use of sedatives in dental sedation using data from the National Health Insurance in Korea

BACKGROUND: Although dental sedation helps control anxiety and pain, side effects and serious complications related to sedation are gradually increasing. Due to the introduction of new drugs and sedation methods, insurance rates, legal regulations, drugs, and methods used for dental sedation are inevitably changed. In the Republic of Korea, National Health Insurance is applied to all citizens, and this study investigated changes in the use of sedatives using this big data. METHODS: This study used customized health information data provided by the Healthcare Insurance Review & Assessment Service of Korea. Among patients with a record of use of at least one of eight types of sedatives for dental sedation between January 2007 and September 2019 were selected; the data of their overall insurance claims for dental treatment were then analyzed. RESULTS: The number of patients who received dental sedation was 786,003, and the number of dental sedation cases was 1,649,688. Inhalational sedation using nitrous oxide (N(2)O) accounted for 86.8% of all sedatives that could be claimed for drugs and treatment. In particular, it was confirmed that the number of requests for sedation using N(2)O sharply increased each year. Midazolam showed an increasing trend, and in the case of chloral hydrate, it gradually decreased. CONCLUSION: According to our analysis, the use of N(2)O and midazolam gradually increased, while the use of chloral hydrate gradually decreased.