A new study published in Anesthesia Progress examines the effectiveness and safety of sedation in pediatric dental procedures for young children. Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, and The Ohio State University conducted a retrospective analysis of 824 children aged 24–60 months who underwent first-time dental sedation between 2015 and 2020. The study evaluated sedation success using three patient-centered outcomes: behavioral success, safety success, and treatment success, defined as completing the planned dental procedure without requiring general anesthesia. Results showed overall sedation success in 69.3% of cases. Behavioral success occurred in 49.0% of patients, safety success in 79.5%, and treatment success in 62.1%. The researchers also found that oral midazolam demonstrated higher success rates for both behavioral and safety outcomes compared with intranasal midazolam. Additional predictors of overall sedation success included older patient age, male sex, and cooperative pre-sedation behavior. The authors note that further research is needed to address safety considerations and improve predictive models for patient selection and sedation strategies in pediatric dentistry. The full study, "Assessing Pediatric Sedation Using Patient-Centered Outcomes," appears in Anesthesia Progress, Vol. 73, No. 1 (2026).
GLEN ALLEN, Va., March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Anesthesia Progress – Pediatric dentistry is a challenging field for clinicians as patients often present as anxious, fearful, and/or uncooperative during their appointments. Many parents or caregivers opt for sedation to ensure successful outcomes during pediatric dental procedures; however, despite the widespread use of sedation in pediatric dentistry, research on its efficacy and safety in young children remains limited.
To assess the success of sedation use during pediatric dental procedures, researchers from the Boston Children's Hospital and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, recently published a study in the current issue of Anesthesia Progress. Lead author Kristin D. Sweeney Marso, DMD, MS, and colleagues state, "The primary objective of this retrospective review of pediatric sedations was to assess overall sedation success as determined by behavior, safety, and treatment outcomes. The secondary objectives were to compare single vs multi-drug combination success, oral and IN midazolam success, and to identify variables that may be used in future patient-centered predictive models for optimizing patient safety and case selection."
This retrospective study analyzed data from 824 children aged 24-60 months (52.3% female) who underwent first-time sedation for dental treatment at Nationwide Children's Hospital between 2015 and 2020. The primary goal of the research was to assess sedation success using three key patient-centered outcomes: behavioral success, safety success, and treatment success, which was defined as completion of the planned treatment without the need for general anesthesia.
Researchers found that overall sedation success occurred in 69.3% of the cases. Behavior success was seen in 49.0% of patients, while safety success was achieved in 79.5% of the cases. Treatment success, which was defined as completing the planned dental procedure without requiring general anesthesia, was achieved in 62.1% of cases. Regarding sedation methods, results showed that oral midazolam had higher success rates for both behavior (59.4% vs. 44.6%) and safety (85.6% vs. 76.1%) outcomes compared with intranasal midazolam.
The findings of this study show that sedation was effective in 69.3% of pediatric dentistry cases, with oral midazolam proving more successful for managing behavior and safety. Sweeney Marso and colleagues also note, "In this sample, which included both single- and multi-drug sedations, older age, male sex, and cooperative presedation behavior predicted overall success." They go on to recommend that additional research is necessary to address safety concerns and optimize patient outcomes in pediatric dental procedures.
Full text of the article, "Assessing Pediatric Sedation Using Patient-Centered Outcomes," Anesthesia Progress, Vol. 73, No. 1, 2026, is now available at anesthesiaprogress.org
Media Contact
Maria Preston-Cargill, KnowledgeWorks Global, 1 7852892532, [email protected], https://www.kwglobal.com/
SOURCE Anesthesia Progress
Share this article