The way forward for dental sedation and primary care?

Objectives Firstly to determine the current provision of sedation in primary dental care in an area of Scotland without local secondary care support and secondly, to investigate den tal practitioners' desire for formal postgraduate training in sedation techniques. Design A prospective postal questionnaire-based study. Setting Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust, UK, 2001. Subjects Questionnaires were sent to all NHS dental practitioners and community dental service clinicians [N=194] employed through Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust, Scotland during March - April 2001. The questionnaires sought details about personal status and the use and perceived need for conscious sedation techniques in practice in addition to the stated desire for postgraduate training in sedation techniques. Results One hundred and thirty-six questionnaires were returned (70%). Forty-nine per cent of respondents reported current sedation use, with intravenous sedation the favoured technique (82%), followed by oral sedation (33%) and inhalation sedation (19%). Seventy-four per cent of participants considered that there was a need for sedation in their own practice and 68% were interested in further postgraduate training in sedation techniques. Conclusion Nearly three-quarters of practitioners who responded felt that there was a need for sedation in their own practice, although less than half were able to offer sedation to their patients. Nearly 70% of practitioners felt there was a need for postgraduate training in sedation techniques.