Utilising a paediatric version of the indicator of sedation need for children's dental care: a pilot study.

Aim: To assess the treatment outcomes of using inhalation sedation for comprehensive dental care in children by utilising a modified version of the indicator of sedation need tool.

Methods: Investigating the outcomes of dental treatment of patients referred to the sedation unit at the Leeds Dental Institute when the paediatric version of the indicator of sedation need (p-IOSN) was utilised.

Results: Forty patients of mean age 9.99 (SD = 3.14) years were followed up to ascertain treatment outcomes when the p-IOSN was used. Of the total of 40 children included, 20 scored 6 on p-IOSN. Treatment completion rate was 72.5 %. Although major differences existed between age and treatment outcomes, they failed to achieve statistical significance. No significant association was found between gender and p-IOSN of any score with any treatment outcome.

Conclusions: p-IOSN may be a useful tool that can be used to predict those child patients who would benefit from sedation for their dental treatment. However, the p-IOSN is still in a developmental stage and further research is required prior to its use on clinical grounds.