A service evaluation on the treatment of first permanent molars under inhalation sedation

Abstract

Background: Compromised first permanent molar (cFPM) affect 25% UK. The more severely affected the FPM the more challenging and complicated treatment becomes. A dilemma on whether to extract or restore these molars. Treatment of these molars have not been consistent due to lack of guidance on how to determine prognosis. Aim: • To report on the management of first permanent molars (FPM) in children under inhalation sedation and to assess treatment according to severity. • To identify the profiles of children treated under IS and other non-FPM treatments Methods and design: A retrospective service evaluation based on dental records of children who had dental treatment under inhalation sedation between January 2016 and December 2020 in the paediatric dentistry department in St Thomas’s Hospital. Result: Case notes for 1514 children have been analyzed. The mean age of the children who were treated under inhalation sedation was approximately seven and nine months (7.9) years. The ratio of male (51%) and female (46%) was similar. Four hundred children had treatment on FPM. FPM restorative treatment was (86%) FPMs were restored whereas extraction (14%). Almost 71 (47%) FPMs of all those extracted were restorable since the caries was in the outer one third of the dentine at worst. Conclusion: 3 In a cohort of UK patients’ treatment of first permanent molars under inhalation is mostly restorative, however, almost half of the extracted teeth were restorable.