Current state of sedation/analgesia care in dentistry.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Dentistry treatment is one of the most anxiety-inducing events in people's lives. The development of pain and anxiety-control techniques has always been very closely aligned to the development of dentistry. The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent literature in this field.

RECENT FINDINGS

The literature in the last 12 months falls into four main categories: dental anxiety and its influence on patient care, dental sedation for children, sedation with benzodiazepines for dentistry, and intravenous propofol sedation for dentistry.

SUMMARY

Considerable progress is being made with a number of innovative techniques. Oral midazolam for children and patient-controlled propofol show very promising results. More research is needed before propofol can be recommended for use without anaesthetic staff. The recently published systematic review of sedation in children outlines gaps in the literature and contains recommendations for future work.