Comparison of the level of parental acceptance and their anxiety toward conscious sedation vs. general anesthesia in uncooperative pediatric patients

Abstract

Behavior management have been one of the main issues in pediatric dentistry and since many young children arenEt able to cooperate at the required level for dental treatments, occasionally treatments are delayed, resulting in severe pain and loss of a large number of teeth in children.Dental treatments under general anesthesia or conscious sedation are methods that can be recommended for such patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of parental acceptance and anxiety toward conscious sedation vs. general anesthesia for dental treatment of uncooperative children. Methods:In this descriptive-comparative study, parents of 2-6 years old children, whose child was referred to dental hospital because of the lack of cooperation during routine treatments, were chosen. A film showing dental treatment under each method was played during reception in hospital and the technique was explained. Parents were asked to rate the acceptability of each method and their anxiety while watching the videos using the VAS scale. Obtained data were analyzed using U mann whitney test, one way ANOVA, two independent sample t-test. Results:The average acceptability of conscious sedation and general anesthesia, were 62/36 + 27/29 and 50/32 + 38/63 respectively, and the average stress in conscious sedation and general anesthesia, were 65/53 25/96 and 74/68 23/65 respectively. There was a significant statistical difference between the average of parental acceptability and their anxiety. Discussion:It was revealed that parental acceptability for conscious sedation and the anxiety level for general anesthesia were higher compared to other technique.