Treatment profile at dental urgent care clinic for children and teenagers from Faculdade de Odontologia de Araraquara (FOAr) – UNESP

Abstract Introduction: Urgency care is a common practice in pediatric dentistry but little is known about the profile of these visits. Objective: To evaluate the profile of patients aged between 0 and 13 years assisted at the Urgency Unit offered by FOAr, from 1997 to 2012, in order to quantify patients and procedures performed and identify the most frequently treatments performed. Material and method: In this observational transversal study, the reports of urgency service provided by the Integrated Clinical System were analyzed for the number of patients, treatments and type of procedures performed. The procedures were classified into seven categories: Diagnosis, Preventive, Anesthesia, Endodontic, Restorative, Surgical and Others. The data were organized and analyzed descriptively. Results: From 1997 to 2012, a total of 13,849 patients were treated in 25,786 visits and 86,279 procedures were conducted. A decrease in the number of patients assisted was observed. However, the number of appointments and the number of procedures did not decrease at the same ratio. Diagnosis procedures were the most frequent procedure performed, followed by preventive procedures. Restorative and endodontic treatments were the most frequent operative procedure performed. Dental surgeries were done less frequently. Conclusion: A profile change in the dental urgent treatment was observed throughout the years. Despite a reduction in the number of patients assisted, the number of visits and the amount of procedures performed remained stable. The procedures performed are in agreement with the profile of a dental urgent care clinic.