Impact of office-based intravenous deep sedation providers upon traditional sedation practices employed in pediatric dentistry.
OBJECTIVE
This survey intended to determine how the implementation of office-based IV deep sedation by a third party provider (OIVSED) impacted the traditional sedation practices employed in pediatric dentistry private practice settings.


METHODS
A digital survey was e-mailed  to 924 members of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry practicing in California, Florida, and New York, chosen because these states had large samples of practicing pediatric dentists in geographically disparate locations.


RESULTS
151 pediatric dentists using OIVSED responded  to the survey. Improved efficiency, safety and quality of care provided, and increased parental acceptance were reported advantages of this service. Although less costly than hospital-based general anesthesia, the average fee for this service was a deterrent to some parents considering this  option. Sixty-four percent of respondents continued to provide traditional sedation modalities, mostly oral sedation, in their offices, as parenteral routes taught in their training programs were less often selected.


CONCLUSIONS
OIVSED users reported both a reduction in the use of  traditional sedation modalities in their offices and use of hospital-based GA services in exchange for perceived improvements in efficiency, safety and quality of care delivered. Patient costs, in the absence of available health insurance coverage, inhibited accessing this service by some  parents.
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Collegeof Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Michael
M
Tarver
Marcio
M
Guelmann
Robert
R
Primosch
D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D054810:Deep Sedation; D004497:Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry; D011787:Quality of Health Care
D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous