Assessment of Perceptions about Sedation in Dentistry among General Dental Practitioners, Dental Students and General Public - A Descriptive Cross- Sectional Study

Introduction: The use of sedation in dentistry is a controversial topic with varying views about it among the people who are potentially related to it. Among the various other unanswered questions, it is clearly necessary to find out what dental practitioners, dental students, and the general public think about the use of sedation in routine dental practice. Aim: The aim was to assess the perceptions of dentists, dental students, and the general public concerning sedation in the dental office. Methodology: Three categories of participants were selected to participate in the study. Questionnaires regarding sedation in dentistry were distributed amongst 30 dental practitioners, 30 dental students, and 30 lay people. The questions were broadly classified into three categories: Knowledge about sedation, in favor of the use of sedation by dentists, and sedation risks. The data were then tabulated, and response frequencies were converted to percentages to obtain the results. Results: A total of 27 dentists and dental students claimed to have knowledge about sedation. Among 30 general public interviewers, 11 said they knew about sedation, whereas 19 claimed they didn't have any knowledge. Among 30 dental practitioners, 21 (70%) favored the use of sedatives by dentist, and 23 (77%) students favored the use of sedatives by dentists. When asked if sedation presents risk, 7 (23%) of the dental practitioners thought it did, while 13 (43%) of the students, and 23 (90%) of the general public said it did. Conclusion: The study showed that level of knowledge about sedation was high for dentists and the dental students when compared to the general public. For the dentists, however, this knowledge was mostly theoretical. Dental practitioners and dental students both agreed about the limited coverage of this subject in their dental colleges and asserted on including this topic in their curriculum.