Evaluation of Moderate Sedation Appointment Failures in an Urban Postgraduate Pediatric Dentistry Clinic

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on patients scheduled for moderate sedation dental visits at the UIC COD between January 1, 2018 and November 1, 2019. Details regarding patients’ first scheduled moderate sedation appointments across this timespan were recorded. Information on patient demographics, appointment characteristics, and clinic experience were collected. Information regarding whether the sedation was completed or not was recorded; and if the sedation was incomplete, the reasoning for why it did not get completed was documented. The goal of this study was to assess which factors are associated with failed moderate sedation appointments.

Over the course of twenty-two months, 618 patients were scheduled for moderate sedation appointments at UIC COD. In all, 1058 moderate sedation appointments were scheduled with each patient on average scheduling 1.72 sedation appointments. Of the first scheduled encounters, 512 patients (82.9 %) attended their appointment and 106 patients (17.1%) either canceled or failed the visit.

In total, of the 512 attended moderate sedation visits, 410 first-time sedations (80.1%) were completed and 102 appointments (19.9%) did not have a sedation go through. Among the reasons for attended sedation non-completion, airway (n = 33, 35.3%), illness (n = 29, 28.4%), and NPO violation (n=22, 21.5%) were the most common. This leads us to believe that airway assessment calibration could be improved across residents and staff at UIC COD. Additionally, we found several factors associated with an increased rate of patient attendance to their dental sedation appointment.