124 - Association of Social Demographics and Pediatric Dental General Anesthesia Appointments

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess reasons that pediatric dental patients missed treatment appointments under general anesthesia (GA). Secondarily, to evaluate sociodemographic variables between patients who missed GA appointments and those who kept GA appointments.


Methods: Pediatric patients scheduled for GA appointments from January 20, 2022 through July 31, 2022 at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry dental clinic were included. Collected data included patients’ demographics, clinical information, and reasons for the missed GA appointment. Associations of each factor for failed and kept GA appointments were analyzed with Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, and multiple linear regression. Significance level was set at 0.05.

Results: Of 81 patients, 39 missed appointments and 42 kept appointments. Almost half of the subjects’ reason for missing a GA was “did not follow protocol” which included hospital pre-operative protocols and COVID-19 protocols. Mean days between consultation appointment and surgery visit for subjects who missed the appointments were significantly higher than the subjects who kept the appointments (mean days: 237.3 vs. 141.4; p=0.012). There was no significant difference in patients who missed and kept appointments regardless of the patient’s language spoken, type of insurance, distance from the hospital, whether they had special healthcare needs, or other patient demographics and clinical variables.

Conclusions: The primary reason that patients missed GA appointments was due to incomplete adherence to hospital protocols. The number of days between consultation appointment and surgery visit for subjects who missed appointments were significantly higher than patients who kept their GA appointment.