Current teaching of restraint and sedation in pediatric dentistry: a survey of program directors

Directors of advanced educational programs in pediatric dentistry were surveyed to examine the usage patterns of various physical and pharmacological restraint techniques over the past five years. Results indicate that while the overall use of sedation has decreased, the use of oral sedative agents reportedly increased by 42.1%. The net decrease resulted from large decreases in parenteral administration. While the survey results showed large decreases in the use of hand-over-mouth and hand-over-mouth with airway restriction, the use of other physical restraint techniques continued to be employed at the same rate. Programs reporting changes in the use of nitrous oxide were divided equally between increased and decreased utilization. The usage pattern of general anesthesia, however, was clearly unidirectional. More than half (57.4%) of program directors reported an increased use of general anesthesia, while only 13.0% reported a decreased use.