A one-year survey of inpatient dental consultations at a children's hospital

Pediatric dental residents’ on‐call experience

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

The Commission on Dental (CODA) requires that pediatric dentistry training programs provide residents with clinical experiences in oral-facial injury and emergency care, as well as interprofessional patient care through hospital dentistry. These standards are often met through pediatric dental residents being on-call for children's hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe the on-call experience of pediatric dental residents at two urban children's hospitals.

METHODS

This cross-sectional descriptive study collected and analyzed data on the number, type, and time and date distributions of on-call pages received by pediatric dental residents over a 36-month study period.

RESULTS

A total of 737 on-call pages were received. Each pediatric dental resident responded to 70 pages on average during their training. The most common reason for pages being received was inpatient consultation and oral-facial trauma. The mean number of pages received did not vary by year, month, or day of the week. There was a statically significant difference in the mean number of pages received by the hour of the day.

CONCLUSION

Having an on-call pediatric dental service in pediatric dentistry training programs is a meaningful way of exposing pediatric dental residents to oral-facial trauma, hospital dentistry, and interprofessional care.

Radiographic Interpretation in Oral Medicine and Hospital Dental Practice

Oral medicine practice includes the diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of oral and orofacial diseases and oral manifestations of systemic conditions. Oral medicine specialists in medical and dental settings often require imaging in assessment and treatment of these conditions. This article reviews imaging that may be used in practice, particularly as relevant for facial pain, bone conditions, and salivary gland disease. It reviews imaging that may be considered in a hospital setting for assessment of admitted patients, patient evaluation before surgical procedures, and provision of dentistry in a hospital setting for patients who cannot submit to treatment in an outpatient setting.

Inpatient dental consultations at a pediatric hospital: A single center 1-year review

AIMS

Inpatient dental consultations done at a pediatric hospital in 2017 were analyzed to determine consult reasons, requesting departments, and patient characteristics. Findings were compared to a 2007 study from the hospital.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Data were collected from medical records. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were calculated. In 2017, 300 consults were performed for 211 patients (1.8% of inpatients). hematology-oncology requested the most consults (63%). Evaluation prior to cancer treatment, cardiac surgery, or organ transplantation was the most common reason for consult requests (52%). Fifty-eight percent patients had a dental home; older patients were more likely to have a dental home (P < .001). Patients with a dental home were less likely to have caries (P = .047). Many patients with a dental home had caries (33% in 2007 and 29% in 2017); more patients without a dental home had caries (46% in 2007 and 38% in 2017).

CONCLUSIONS

This study both supports the dental home concept and reveals that many children with a dental home have treatment needs. This indicates that medical providers should not equate having a dental home with having dental health and emphasizes the value of an in-hospital dental service to support the management of critically ill children.

Dental treatment for handicapped patients; sedation vs general anesthesia and update of dental treatment in patients with different diseases

Dental treatment on Handicapped Patients is often difficult because many people with a wide range of ages (from children to the elderly) with different pathologies that can affect the oral cavity and differ widely are included in this group. This situation creates some controversy, because according to pathology, each patient will be treated differently depending on collaboration, general health status, age or medication used to treat this pathologies. According to this situation we can opt for an outpatient treatment without any kind of previous medication, a treatment under conscious or deep sedation or a under general anesthesia treatment. With this systematic review is intended to help clarify in which cases patients should be treated under general anesthesia, sedation (conscious or deep) or outpatient clinic without any medication, as well as clarify what kind of treatments can be carried in private dental clinics and which should be carried out in a hospital. It will also discuss the most common diseases among this group of patients and the special care to be taken for their dental treatment.

Providing dental treatment for children in a hospital setting

This article discusses aspects of providing dental treatment in hospitals to patients with complex medical and/or behavioral problems. Practical information for patient selection for care in a hospital operating room, obtaining hospital privileges, and other aspects of dental care in hospitals are introduced.