Comparison of Failed and Kept General Anesthesia Appointments in a Pediatric Dental Clinic

Purpose: To evaluate reasons pediatric dental patients missed appointments associated with general anesthesia (GA) or monitored anesthesia care (MAC).
Methods: Data were collected using a retrospective review of 518 charts of patients with appointments at a university pediatric dental clinic between January 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019. The information obtained included patient demographics and reasons for failing appointments. Statistical analyses included descriptive and bivariate analyses (alpha=0.05).
Results: A total of 518 patients were included in the study. There were 86 failed appointments (age=7.6±5.8 [standard deviation; {SD}] years; 64 percent males) and 432 kept appointments (age=8.4±7.0 [SD] years; 61.6 percent males), were included in the study. Among those patients who failed appointments, 82.6 percent had public aid (Medicaid) coverage and 47.7 percent had special health care needs (SHCN). For those who kept appointments, 80.8 percent had Medicaid coverage and 55.8 percent had SHCN. The most common reason for failed appointments was "child illness." Patients seen for emergency care between consultation and the surgery visit were more likely to fail appointments than those who were not seen for emergency care (33.3 percent versus 12.7 percent; P =0.001). Additionally, the mean/median days, respectively, between consultation and surgery for patients who missed appointments were significantly higher than for patients who kept appointments (107.5/91 days versus 75.6/58 days; P <0.001).
Conclusion: Significant differences were found between patients who failed their appointments and those who kept them.