Dental treatment for handicapped patients; sedation vs general anesthesia and update of dental treatment in patients with different diseases

Therapeutic solutions for anterior restorations in disabled patients: Systematic review and case report

INTRODUCTION

Treating anterior restorations is a real challenge for a dentist and conventional protocols are not always applicable. The aim of this study is to determine different therapeutic to conducting anterior restorations in disabled people.

CASE REPORT

We begin by presenting the case of a 23-year-old, handicapped man, who was brought in consultation to compensate for the loss of the left upper central incisor (#21).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We then performed a systematic literature review in December 2022, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. The publications, on three databases, dealing with dental treatments on disabled people were selected whether they were clinical studies or case reports.

RESULTS

In the end, 14 publications were included. Most of the treatments described in the studies (n = 10; 71.43%) concern people aged under 19. The patients present different types of handicaps with various degrees of severity and the oral diseases described are as heterogeneous as the handicaps retrieved.

DISCUSSION

It is therefore difficult to make common treatment recommendations for all these variable profiles and situations. Most of patients in this study are very young, so there is a need for preventive and therapeutic care as earlier as possible, to preserve the vitality of their teeth and dental occlusion.

Deep Sedation for Dental Care Management in Healthy and Special Health Care Needs Children: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

Very young children, and those with disabilities and extensive oral pathology, who cannot be treated in the dental chair, require deep sedation or general anesthesia for dental treatment.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to describe and compare the oral health status in healthy and SHCN children and the treatments performed under deep sedation on an outpatient basis with a minimal intervention approach, and their impact on quality of life.

METHODS

A retrospective study between 2006 and 2018 was made. A total of 230 medical records of healthy and SHCN children were included. The data extracted were age, sex, systemic health status, reason for sedation, oral health status before sedation, treatments administered during sedation, and follow-up. The quality of life after deep sedation of 85 children was studied through parental questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential analyses were made.

RESULTS

Of the 230 children, 47.4% were healthy and 52.6% were SHCN. The median age was 7.10 ± 3.40 years (5.04 ± 2.42 in healthy children and 8.95 ± 3.09 in SHCN children). The main reason for sedation was poor handling in the dental chair (99.5%). The most frequent pathologies were caries (90.9%) and pulp pathology (67.8%). Healthy children had more teeth affected by decay and with pulp involvement. Patients aged < 6 years received more pulpectomies and pulpotomies. After treatment, parents stated that children were more rested and less irascible, ate better, increased in weight, and had improved dental aesthetics.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences in treatments carried out did not depend on the general health status or the failure rate but on age, with more pulp treatments in healthy children who were younger, and more extractions near to the age of physiological turnover in children with SHCN who were older. Intervention under deep sedation with a minimally invasive treatments approach met the expectations of parents and guardians, as it improved the children's quality of life.

Effects site concentrations of propofol using target-controlled infusion in dental treatment under deep sedation among different intellectual disability types

Background

We aimed to assess the dose needed to achieve the propofol effect-site concentration using target-controlled infusion in intellectually disabled patients and to detail the most effective method for achieving a safe level of consciousness without hemodynamic changes as well as detail any resulting adverse effects.

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of sedation service records of 138 intellectually disabled patients (51, mental retardation; 36, autism; 30, brain lesion, 12 genetic diseases, 9 dementia) aged over 15 years and weighing over 30 kg. These patients had received propofol via target-controlled infusion in the special care dental clinic of Seoul National University Dental Hospital from May 2008 to September 2018 for restorative treatment (112), minor surgery (13), prosthodontics (7), periodontics treatment (5), and implant (1).

Results

For all groups, the duration of dental treatments was 43 ± 18 minutes, total sedation time was 73 ± 23 minutes, and total BIS values was 57 ± 12. The propofol maintenance dosage values for each group were: mental retardation, 3 ± 0.5 (2–4) µg/ml; autism, 3.1 ± 0.7 (2–5) µg/ml; brain lesion, 2.8 ± 0.7 (1.5–5) µg/ml; genetic disease, 2.9 ± 0.9 (1–4) µg/ml; and dementia 2.3 ± 0.7 (1–3.4) µg/ml.

Conclusions

The dementia group needed a lower dosage to reach a safe, effective propofol effect-site concentration than the other groups. Since there were no complications, deep sedation is a great alternative to general anesthesia for dental treatment of intellectually disabled patients.

Current methods of sedation in dental patients - a systematic review of the literature

Objetive

The main objective of this systematic literature review is to identify the safest and most effective sedative drugs so as to ensure successful sedation with as few complications as possible.

Study Design

A systematic literature review of the PubMed MEDLINE database was carried out using the key words “conscious sedation,” “drugs,” and “dentistry.” A total of 1,827 scientific articles were found, and these were narrowed down to 473 articles after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. These 473 studies were then individually assessed for their suitability for inclusion in this literature review.

Results

A total of 21 studies were selected due to their rigorous study design and conduciveness to further, more exhaustive analysis. The selected studies included a total of 1,0003 patients classified as ASA I or II. Midazolam was the drug most frequently used for successful sedation in dental surgical procedures. Ketamine also proved very useful when administered intranasally, although some side effects were observed when delivered via other routes of administration. Both propofol and nitrous oxide (N2O) are also effective sedative drugs.

Conclusions

Midazolam is the drug most commonly used to induce moderate sedation in dental surgical procedures, and it is also very safe. Other sedative drugs like ketamine, dexmedetomidine and propofol have also been proven safe and effective; however, further comparative clinical studies are needed to better demonstrate which of these are the safest and most effective.

Key words:Conscious sedation, drugs, dentistry.