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Service evaluation of an intravenous sedation service within a hospital paediatric dentistry unit: ten-year results

British Dental Journal (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Background An intravenous sedation (IVS) service was established in 2008 for young people aged 12 years or over, within the paediatric dentistry department at the Eastman Dental Hospital in London. The aim of this study was to carry out a service evaluation and assess the case mix and success rate of this service over the last ten years.

Materials and methods A retrospective service evaluation was carried out, including all patients attending the IVS clinic between April 2009 and March 2019.

Results A total of 457 patients attended over 525 appointments. The mean age was 14. The success rate was over 98%. The average dose of midazolam was 4 mg and dosage ranged from 1.5-10 mg.

Conclusion This IVS service has been established successfully and offers patients an alternative to general anaesthetic. This consequently reduced the general anaesthetic waiting list by 10%.

Key points

  • Intravenous sedation (IVS) is a successful treatment modality in young people.

  • IVS can be used for a variety of dental procedures, including restorations, extractions and surgical procedures such as expose/bonds, surgical removal of teeth and soft tissue surgery.

  • The widespread provision of IVS may ease pressure on dental hospital general anaesthetic waiting lists.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Professor Paul Ashley for assistance with data collection and analysis. The authors would also like to thank all the dentists, nurses, management and admin team involved in planning and providing this service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eastman Dental Hospital, Department of Paediatric Dentistry, 47-49 Huntley Street, WC1E 6DG, London, UK

    Prabhleen Anand & Alexandra Lyne

  2. Leeds Dental Institute, Department of Oral Medicine, The Worsley Building, Clarendon Way, LS2 9LU, Leeds, UK

    Andrew Fulton

  3. School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, Mill Pool Way, B5 7SA, Birmingham, UK

    Ajit Tanday

  4. Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, UK

    Mohsin Chaudhary

Authors
  1. Prabhleen Anand
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  2. Alexandra Lyne
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  5. Mohsin Chaudhary
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Correspondence to Alexandra Lyne.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Anand, P., Lyne, A., Fulton, A. et al. Service evaluation of an intravenous sedation service within a hospital paediatric dentistry unit: ten-year results. Br Dent J (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2596-1

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