Estimated compared with actual plans of paediatric dental treatment performed under deep sedation: A retrospective cohort study

Background: Planning the extent of paediatric dental treatment under deep sedation is highly important, as the duration of the sedation should be limited to approximately 1 h, and the amount of local anesthesia is limited by the children's body weight. Aim: To compare treatment plans estimated at initial examinations with actual dental treatments under intravenous deep sedation. We examined factors that could affect the differences. Design: For this retrospective cohort study, data were collected from the medical records of all the children younger than 18 years who underwent dental treatment under intravenous deep sedation during 2019–2021 at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry. Results: In total, 108 children were included. During the actual versus the estimated treatment under deep sedation, more teeth were treated (p <.001), and the treatment was more complex (p <.001). A longer waiting period for dental treatment was found to be correlated with a greater number of treated teeth than was estimated (p =.003) and with greater complexity of the actual than the estimated treatment (p =.003). Conclusion: Actual compared with estimated dental treatment under deep sedation involved more teeth and was of greater complexity. This suggests that referrals should include children with limited estimated treatment plans.