Original Article

Year : 2016 | Volume : 1 | Issue : 1 | Page : 5-9

Use of Anesthesia in Pediatric Dentistry: A Cross‐sectional Survey

A. Naurin Salma, Mahesh Ramakrishnan

Department of Pedodontics, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Address for correspondence:

Dr. A. Naurin Salma,

Department of Pedodontics, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai ‐ 600 077,

Tamil Nadu, India.

E‐Mail: salmanaurin@gmail.com

Abstract

Aim:

The aim of this study is to access the knowledge and use of dental anesthesia in pediatric dentistry. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of dental anesthesia among pediatric dentists.

Materials and Methods:

The survey was conducted among pediatric dentists who were practicing in Chennai, South India. A questionnaire was distributed which include questions relating to the use of local and topical anesthetics.

Background:

Anesthetic injection isthe dental procedure that producesthe greatest negative response in children. Pain and anxiety can reduce the efficacy of anesthesia in pediatric patients. This fear of anesthesia is often manifested as a behavior management problem, with a few pediatric patientslacking good coping skills and displaying hysterical behavior in anticipation of discomfort.Anxiety is the most disturbing experience for children, a response that sometimes can only be controlled with techniques beyond anesthesia. There are several factors that can predispose a patient to this overdose of anesthetic. The patient factors include age, weight, other medications, sex, presence of other systemic disorders, genetics, and mental attitude, and environment. There is a lack of studies accessing the usage and status of anesthesia in pediatric dentistry.

Results:

Eighty‐eight percent used exact body weight to determine local anesthetic dosage. Only 11% of the respondents were using <10 s to inject a full cartridge. Topical anesthetics were used by most of the dentists. Most patients (98%) disliked the taste of topical anesthetics, and adverse drug reactions were rarely seen.

Conclusion:

The findings of this study demonstrate that pediatric dentists are most commonly used local anesthetics as the preferred type and shorter needle for infiltrations and blocks. Most were taking anywhere from 31 to 60 s to inject a cartridge. Topical anesthetics were used by most and also the preferred one. However, their perception of the effectiveness of topical anesthetics varied. There also appears to be a need to develop newer and better mode of topical anesthetic delivery system in the pediatric dental population.

Key words: Drug dosage, local anesthesia, topical anesthesia

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article: Salma AN, Ramakrishnan M. Use of anesthesia in pediatric dentistry: A cross-sectional survey. Int J Pedod Rehabil 2016;1:5-9.