Abstract
Aim
To analyse retrospectively the outcomes for children undergoing oral care under conscious sedation with oral midazolam and local analgesia at Leeds dental Institute, England and Westmead Dental Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Secondly, the study assessed the suitability of oral midazolam for paediatric dental treatment.Study design
Retrospective study of clinical outcomes based on dental records.Methods
All children included in the study had been treated between September 2000 to August 2004 and full dental records were available. The dental records were examined using a standard pro forma sheet and data collected for: age, previous behaviour using the Frankl [1962] scale, units of work planned and achieved using the modified index of O'Sullivan and Curzon [1991], midazolam dosage and treatment outcome.Results
The study population consisted of 101 children aged 1-11 years in both Leeds (57 children) and Westmead (44 children). There were significant differences between Leeds and Westmead with respect to age (mean +/-SD) in years 5.0+/-1.0 versus 2.9+/-1.6; number of treatment visits 1.7 versus 1.1; sedation dose used 0.5-0.7 mg/kg versus 02.-0.3; type and amount of treatment planned 8.3 units versus 3.3 and achieved 7.5 versus 2.2, for both centres respectively. There was also a difference in overall success rates of rendering the children dentally fit of 65% v. 91%, respectively.Conclusion
Oral midazolam was found to be a useful drug for the management of young children with behaviour problems. It was found, however, not to be effective in all cases and for the provision of all types of paediatric dentistry. The results indicate that, when using oral midazolam in children, the treatment should be restricted to simple restorations and extractions over a maximum of two visits.