DENTAL STAFF ATTITUDE TOWARDS GENERAL ANESTHESIA AND PROCEDURAL SEDATION IN TBILISI, GEORGIA

Introduction: Dental fear and anxiety are widespread phenomena worldwide that prevent patients from receiving proper oral healthcare. The management techniques of dental fear and anxiety include basic or advanced behavior guidance techniques, including Procedural Sedation and General Anesthesia. We aimed to assess the attitudes and knowledge of dental healthcare professionals in Georgia towards the use of procedural sedation and general anesthesia in ambulatory dentistry Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted in twenty dental clinics, four of them using General Anesthesia in their clinical practice, in Tbilisi, Georgia from June 2023 April 2024. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to study participants. Data were analyzed in IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test was used to find associations. Binary and ordinal logistic regression was used to find the effect of work experience on dental staff attitude. Results: Our study included 250 dental staff, among them 220 were not using Procedural Sedation or General Anesthesia in their practice and 30 dental staff were using in General Anesthesia in their actual practice. A vast majority of the dental staff (n=207, 92.5%) understood the difference between Procedural Sedation and General Anesthesia. More than 80% of the dental staff were familiar with the anesthetics used during procedural sedation and around 70% knew the anesthetics used in General Anesthesia, significantly better knowledge was found among those with ≥10 years of experience. Majority of them believed that these techniques should be performed under the supervision of anesthesiologist. Approximately 70% of the dental staff had been requested to perform procedural sedation or general anesthesia more than once, with more experienced practitioners being asked more frequently. More than 80% of dental staff had a patient with dental fear and anxiety and 70% with special needs. Over 85% of participants supported the implementation of procedural sedation techniques in Georgia Discussion/Conclusion: Our study found that majority of dental staff of Tbilisi Georgia supports implementation of Procedural Sedation in ambulatory dentistry and feels the necessity to improve their knowledge and hands-on experience in advanced anesthesiology techniques.