Pharmacological Sedation in Paediatric Dentistry

Aim This research aims to explore and evaluate various sedation strategies used in paediatric dentistry, focusing on effectively and safely addressing dental anxiety to improve cooperation during dental treatment in paediatric patients. Materials and methods To identify relevant studies for this systematic review, the Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed databases were used, combining the terms "sedation" with "pediatric dentistry" or "pedodontics" through the Boolean operators "AND" and "OR". Only literature published in English within the last ten years was included. The inclusion criteria were clinical studies, case reports and in vivo studies, while systematic reviews, meta-analyses and studies conducted on animals or in vitro were excluded. After eliminating duplicates, 544 articles were identified, of which 501 were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria. A further 27 articles were excluded for various reasons, including lack of retrieval, in vitro nature or being reviews. Finally, 16 articles were selected for inclusion in the review. Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of pharmacological management in paediatric dental care, offering valuable insights into the selection and application of sedation techniques to mitigate dental anxiety and enhance patient outcomes.