Background: Conscious sedation is a safe and effective method of anxiolysis. However, the use of conscious sedation in pediatric dental patients is a controversial topic as it involves the intersection of dentistry and medicine. Apart from nitrous oxide, other forms of sedation, such as oral benzodiazepines, midazolams, triclofos etc are little used. Among the many questions that could be asked, it is clearly necessary to find out what dental practitioners think about the use of sedatives in their routine pediatric dental practice. This is important in view of the fact that in the culture there is a certain mystique regarding human anesthesiology. Aim: To evaluate the perceptions of dentists on use of Conscious Sedation in paediatric dental practice in Gujarat. Methodology: Dentists registered with the Indian Dental Association of Gujarat state were included in a cross-sectional survey. A self prepared questionnaire comprising of 10 questions were sent to the dentists via an e mail. Questions pertaining to their knowledge and preferences for the use of conscious sedation were asked. The data was evaluated using Statistical software IBM SPSS statistics 20.0. Results: The questionnaire was sent to 400 dentists from the four zones of Gujarat state. 74.25% (297 dentists) responded to the questionnaire. 43.5% were female practitioners and 53.5% were male practitioners. 78.5% were in favor of using conscious sedation as a behavior management technique in pediatric dental practice, irrespective of their qualification or years of experience. Maximum knowledge about conscious sedation was obtained through the curriculum (80%) followed by CDE/Workshops (10.1%) and self reading and internet (7.7%). 49.5% felt there is no need for an anesthesiologist during the use of conscious sedation. 66.3% felt conscious sedation is a good way to manage an anxious child 79.1% felt the need for conscious sedation in their routine pediatric dental practice however 40.4% managed without it. 45.5% have never used or observed conscious sedation techniques. Lack of training was the major hindrance to practice conscious sedation (54.2%) followed by fear of adverse reactions (16.5%), cost of sedation unit (12.8%) difficulty in procuring the equipment (11.4%) and 5.1% had lack of motivation. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the dentists of Gujarat state in general felt optimistic about the use of conscious sedation, however, complained of a lack of training to the subject.
