Sedation
Ali Arsalan, DDS
2nd Year Resident
University of Texas — Houston, Houston, TX
UTHealth at Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Bhavani Acharya, DDS
Program Director
UT School of Dentistry at Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Brett T. Chiquet, DDS, PhD
Associate Professor and Director of Research
UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry
University of Texas School of Dentistry
Houston, Texas, United States
Rhashedah Ekeoduru, MD
UT Health Houston
Hillary Strassner, DDS
UTH Houston
Bhavani Acharya, DDS
Program Director
UT School of Dentistry at Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Purpose: The purpose was to compare demographic, dental needs, and operating room times of patients receiving dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia (GA) in a private and academic setting.
Methods: Records from a private dental practice and academic teaching hospital were reviewed. Age, gender, treatments provided, and the timings of different steps for GA were extracted for all patients. All statistical analyses were performed using R statistical software; P-values < 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: Data from 404 patients treated under GA were included, including 96 private- and 308 academic-setting patients. Within the private-setting patients, a significant difference was noted between the number and types of procedures, time/procedure, and throat pack time between three private pediatric dentists (P < .05). Compared to patients treated in the private-setting, those treated in an academic-setting were younger (3.32+0.78 years versus 6.81+5.38 years; P < .001) and more medically complex (50.8% versus 92% ASA I; P < .001). Significant differences between number and types of procedures, time/procedure, and throat pack time were also noted (P < .001). Time/procedure differences were detected between dental provider level of training (P < .001). There was no difference in non-dental working times based on anesthesia provider level of training (P>.05).
Conclusion: Pediatric dental cases done under GA in private settings take a significantly less time than those performed in University hospital settings. The increased time may be due to patient medical complexity and dental needs, dental provider times/procedure, and/or dental provider level of training. These results should direct future efficiency-improving protocols for teaching hospitals to reduce patient GA exposure time.