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Conscious Sedation: Decision-making in the Borderline Cases
Ashwin Rao1, Steven Jl Rodrigues2, Sivakumar Nuvvula3
1Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
Aim:
This article is intended to aid clinicians in deciding on the use of nonpharmacological behavior guidance, moderate or deep sedation, and general anesthesia.
Background:
Very often, clinicians are hesitant to use moderate sedation till the child is already displaying hysterical behavior. Moderate sedation is not intended to be used on a child displaying hysterical behavior. The clinician should be able to predictably and confidently decide on the use of various modes of child management for the presenting child behavior.
Technique:
To successfully implement child management strategies, the clinician should be able to accurately classify the child's behavior on the dental chair using Frankl's behavior rating scale. The clinician should also classify the length of the procedure intended. Based on these two criteria, the clinician can choose the appropriate behavior management strategy.
Conclusion:
The appropriate behavior guidance technique should not be arbitrary. It should be based on sound fundamentals of scientific knowledge.
How To Cite This Article:
Rao A, Rodrigues SJ, Nuvvula S, et al. Conscious Sedation: Decision-making in the Borderline Cases. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2025;18(S-1):S113-S116.
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