By Rob Goszkowski, Assistant Editor Dr.Bicuspid
January 4, 2012 — The concerted efforts of U.S. dental schools to offer more IV sedation training for periodontists have had a significant impact on the profession, according to the results of a survey published in the Journal of Periodontology (November 28, 2011). About half of all periodontists currently provide IV sedation, and recent graduates are more likely to offer and administer it, according to the study authors, from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. The trend reflects the American Academy of Periodontology’s (AAP) efforts to encourage postgraduate periodontal programs to expand IV sedation training in the early 1990s, they said. “In the early 1990s, representatives from the periodontal profession anticipated [an] upcoming shift in services provided by periodontists, as an increased demand and need for conscious sedation in periodontics was expected,” the authors wrote. In 1994, the AAP began offering faculty training courses in conscious sedation, and representatives from 49 of the 52 U.S. postgraduate programs participated, they noted.
