Survey of Pediatric Dentists on Their View of OR Access, Nosis J (Children’s Hospital of Michigan- Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI)

Purpose: The main purpose was to survey pediatric dentists and gain insight on how pediatric dentists view their accessibility to the operating room (OR) for patient care under general anesthesia. 

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to certified pediatric dentists. The survey consisted of 14 questions regarding patients’ need for general anesthesia, the dentist’s OR access per month, average patient waitlist length for a general anesthesia appointment, and their personal view on the access they have. 

Results: 318 responses were collected from pediatric dentists across the United States. 58.4% of responders have been practicing for 10+ years, 21.5% have been practicing 5-9 years, and 20.2% have been practicing for less than 5 years. The largest percentage of dentists received their OR privileges in 3 or less months. The majority of pediatric dentists have 2 days a month provided to them for dental cases at the hospital. For a given OR day, the largest percent of dentists are able to see 3 patients. 81% of responders feel that they do not have adequate access to the OR to meet the demand for patients needing general anesthesia.

Conclusion: According to the individuals who partook in the study, a large percentage of pediatric dentists are satisfied with the length in time it took to gain OR privileges. What pediatric dentists are dissatisfied with is the amount of days/the accessibility to the OR itself in a hospital setting. Pediatric dentists around the nation feel that access to the OR in a hospital setting does not meet their demand for patients’ needs.