Intravenous sedation for outpatient treatment of child dental patients: an exploratory study

Dental treatment of very young children (toddlers) in known to be difficult. One of the new pharmacological strategies is intravenous sedation with the modern drug Propofol (2,6 diisopropophenol, Diprivan). This article briefly describes the state of the art and a pilot study of dental treatment of 19 toddlers under intravenous sedation. The treatments were performed by a dentist and an anesthetist. Results suggest that sedation is difficult to achieve in young children. Recommendations for further research are made.