Sedation of Pediatric Patients for Dental Procedures: The United States, European, and South American Experience

Abstract

The challenges of sedating a child for dental procedures are multifactorial: The patient's age, health, temperament and emotional status, parental concerns, clinician philosophy on patient management, extent and quality of clinician training and experiences with sedation, state dental board regulation of sedation, issues of third-party coverage or parental reimbursement, knowledge of and adherence by clinicians to sedation guidelines, facility preparedness, and support staff experiences are but a few of many important considerations. To overcome these challenges, a pediatric dentist has to be at the hub of the preventive, operative and behavioral treatment plan.The fi rst section of this chapter is devoted to sedation practices performed primarily in the United States. The second section of this chapter describes sedation practices associated with the United Kingdom and Europe. The closing section will provide an overview of the state of sedation for pediatric dental procedures in South America, as an example of different solutions to sedation management in underdeveloped/developing countries.

The alternative of oral sedation for pediatric dental care

“…Nevertheless, chloral hydrate is clinically used in several countries including Republic of Korea. It is being avoided by clinicians because of adverse effects such as difficulty of administration due to bitterness, nausea, gag reflex, delusion, severe anxiety and long duration, unpredictable effects [ 11 ].…”