Parental Perception toward Dental Sedation in Pediatric Patients at the University of Maryland

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate pre-operative parental perceptions towards sedation, through their knowledge, beliefs and attitude. The parents were also surveyed for post-operative satisfaction and acceptance of the sedation procedure within 2 days of the dental treatment under sedation. Methods: One hundred and one parents of children underwent dental treatment under sedation at University of Maryland responded to two questionnaires: pre-operative and post-operative (24-48 hours). Results: Most of the parents were the only one accompanying person with the child undergoing dental sedation (57.43%). Fisher's exact test was significant (0.006) in parents who thought that dental sedation was of a low risk and had education of college or more. Conclusion: Less than half of parents brought an additional responsible person with them to the child's dental sedation appointment, suggestive of inconsistent compliance with the pre-operative instructions. Parents with higher education (postgraduate) viewed dental sedation for children as a safe approach.