Exploring the aspirations, expectations and impediments of 'dental anaesthesiology' as a medical and dental speciality: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Local anaesthesia is the anaesthetic technique most frequently used in dentistry. Advanced anaesthetic treatments like conscious sedation and/or general anaesthesia are required for major dental surgical procedures. Although general dentists are capable of administering local anaesthesia, additional training is needed for advanced anaesthetic procedures. It is generally disputed whether advanced anaesthetic techniques should be related to one or two dental specialties or whether they should receive a separate degree. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims at introducing the field of 'dental anaesthesiology' in routine dental practice as applicable within laws laid down for dental and medical specialities. METHODS: Publications, articles and mouthpieces relevant to the topic of dental anaesthesiology were identified using various search engines like MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, and Web of Science. The terms used for the search were 'Dental anaesthesiology', 'General anaesthesia', and 'Dental care'. Articles about dental treatment done under anaesthesia were only considered describing various anaesthesia techniques. Additionally, the authors being regular caregivers of dentistry including oral and maxillofacial surgeon have shared their personal experiences and information on the said theme. RESULTS: In total, 127 articles were found of which 33 were available as full texts. Unrelated articles from the available full text were excluded. Finally, 17 studies were incorporated into the review. Majority of dental anaesthesiologist has a positive and favourable attitude towards the profession. Pediatric dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and special needs dentistry are the fields with the highest service demand. Also, the field is lucrative if the practitioner is refined and provides sophisticated services. It is easier and time saving to train the dentists, especially the ones with oral and maxillofacial surgery background. CONCLUSION: A degree of dental anaesthesiologist will open new doors to the budding dentist seeking for jobs or wanting to provide the best outcome.

Frequency of Diplopia in Zygomatic Complex Fractures-A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study.

Background: The zygomatic complex is the second most common fracture of the facial bones after the nasal bone. The prominent convex shape of the zygoma makes it vulnerable to traumatic injury. Diplopia is one of the serious complications of zygomatic complex fracture and is a common subjective complaint. Objective: To determine the frequency of diplopia in zygomatic complex fractures. Methodology. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Ward, Civil Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. The duration of the study was 1 year (March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022). A total of 126 patients having zygomatic complex fractures were included in this study. After recording the patient's complete history, like demographic details and cause for fracture, diplopia was examined clinically. If, during the examination, the patient complained of double vision, this was labeled as diplopia positive (Yes) and negative (No) if the patient did not have any such complain. Data were statistically analyzed. Results: The mean (±SD) age of patients was 33.42 (±9.27), with 91 (72.2%) male patients and 35 (27.8%) female patients. The frequency of diplopia in zygomatic complex fractures was observed in 52 (41.3%) patients. The rate of diplopia was significantly high in patients aged between 31 and 40 years (P-value=0.0005). Conclusion: The frequency of diplopia among patients having zygomatic complex fractures was high in this study. Thus, forming a strategy to properly diagnose and treat it and to prevent persistent morbidity to improve patient's quality of life is recommended.