Hungry for nothing: should dental patients fast prior to conscious sedation?

Objective: This research explores the attitudes of medical professionals towards fasting patients prior to the use of conscious sedation.

Materials And Methods: Questionnaires were completed by a total of 113 dentists, anaesthetists and dental nurses in order to identify current practices and opinions concerning the employment of pre-operative fasting in the context of conscious sedation in dentistry.

Results: Seventy-eight (69%) respondents did not recommend fasting, compared with 35 (31%) who did. Those who did not recommend fasting were able to state significantly more adverse effects (P<0.01) of fasting when compared to the 35 (31%) who advocated fasting. Significantly more anaesthetists (80%) than dentists (14%) advised fasting patients (P<0.001). Thirty-two of 39 (82%) respondents mentioned the risk of aspiration to be the main reason for recommending that patients be fasted.

Conclusion: Medical professionals in dentistry provide a wide range of conflicting views on the employment of fasting prior to conscious sedation reflecting the lack of homogeneity in literature surrounding this topic.