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Children choosing between general anaesthesia or inhalation sedation for dental extractions: the effect on dental anxiety.

AIM
To compare the levels of dental anxiety experienced by children having dental extractions using general anaesthesia (GA) with those having extractions using local anaesthesia and inhalation sedation (IHS) when offered a programmed choice between the two techniques prior to treatment.


DESIGN
Structured interview with child at pre-treatment and at one week (approximately) follow up.


SETTING
Community: primary health care centre.


SUBJECTS
Children aged 9-15 years referred to a local NHS Trust dental clinic (n = 88).


INTERVENTION
Child and parent provided with information about IHS and its benefits over GA for the assistance in tolerating extraction of teeth and provided with a choice of procedure.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
An eight question modified child dental anxiety scale.


RESULTS
Full information was received from 76 children giving an 86% response rate. Post-operative dental anxiety was lower in children who had chosen (with their parent) IHS in comparison to those who had chosen general anaesthesia (P < 0.05). Dental anxiety remained unchanged in the group who chose to have their extractions under GA.


CONCLUSION
Children and their parents who select IHS as opposed to GA to assist in extractions demonstrate less psychological distress.