Use of Intravenous Sedation in Periodontal Practice: A National Survey

Background: In the early 1990s, much of the periodontal profession perceived an upcoming shift in services performed by periodontists as many patients began to expect sedation for periodontal surgery. As a result, in 1993 the American Academy of Periodontology began encouraging postgraduate periodontal programs to train residents in the use of conscious sedation. The purpose of this study is to investigate trends in the training of intravenous (IV) sedation in residency and its use in periodontal practice.Methods: An 18-question survey was mailed to a sample of 1596 active periodontists throughout the United States and Canada. Thirty-seven percent (596) of the surveys were returned. Twenty-two retired periodontists responded and were excluded from the analysis. The data from the remaining 574 surveys were analyzed with a statistical software package.Results: Approximately half (49.8%) of the survey respondents offer IV sedation in their practices. Among respondents who completed residency prior to 1996, 4...