Waiting for the Pain to Get Worse: Characteristics of a Pediatric Population With Acute Dental Pain

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how acute dental pain in children is managed. Methods: A prospective 18-item cross-sectional survey was administered to 300 parent-child dyads seeking care at a large urban tertiary care hospital emergency walk-in dental clinic. Results: The children's mean age was 8 years, 6 months (±3 years, 2 months). The mean duration of pain was 17.7 days. Seventy-six percent of children had been treated with at least 1 dose of over-the-counter pain medication. Acetaminophen was most commonly used (40%), followed by ibuprofen (37%). Regression analysis revealed child age to be significantly correlated with over 40% of pain management behaviors. Younger children were less likely to have received over-the-counter analgesia for dental pain (P<.05). Conclusion: Parents delayed seeking dental care for over 2 weeks. Acute dental pain was most commonly managed with acetaminophen. Seeking dental care was delayed more often for older children.