Triazolam use in the dental setting: a report of 270 uses over 15 years

This single-site prospective study describes a technique of oral conscious sedation (OCS) that uses triazolam with either local anesthesia or the combination of local anesthesia and nitrous oxide sedation. Over a 15-year period, 188 patients at a private dental practice were followed. Patients received one weight-based dose of triazolam 60 minutes prior to treatment to allow for 60-90 minutes of working time and an additional 60 minutes of recovery time. A supplemental dosage equal to half the initial dose was necessary for 10% of patients and was administered 30 minutes after the initial dose if there was no evidence of sedation. Another 20% required sedation augmented with nitrous oxide/oxygen mixtures of 30-50%. Effective OCS was achieved for 98.4% of all participants. These findings indicate that triazolam may be an extremely effective medication when used for OCS in the dental realm and bears further investigation to confirm these positive results.