The Impact of Sublingual Atropine Eyedrops on Salivary Flow in 7-17 Year Old Children during Routine Dental Procedures: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Shannon Samuel44283* and Shaila Masih44284

Objective: Salivation is a double-edged sword. It is desired for its protective function to the oral structures but undesirable due to the need for isolation during dental procedures. Atropine sulphate drops are known to decrease salivary secretion due to their muscarinic antagonistic activity. The present study was undertaken to quantitatively assess decrease in salivary secretion in children post administration of atropine sulphate drops sublingually, during routine dental procedures.

Methods: A total of sixty children between the ages of 7-17 years were divided into two groups. Case group was given atropine sulphate drops sublingually in a dose dependent manner and control group received distilled water in a similarly calculated dose. The stimulated and unstimulated salivary flow rate was quantitatively assessed at three-time intervals (0 min, 60 min and 90 mins) along with the heart rate and blood pressures.

Results: It was found that the unstimulated salivary flow rates in case group dropped by 80.3% and stimulated flow rates reduced by 79.4% in 90 minutes. The study also showed that time of onset of action was within 60 minutes and effect lasted beyond 90 minutes.

Conclusion: The present study translated into proving that the dose administered was adequate to elicit the antisialogogue effect via chosen route in children and the duration of effect was adequate for routine dental procedures.

Clinical relevance: The duration of effect of atropine drops, the route of administration, and reversibility of effect in children can be interpreted as adopting the said drug as an adjunct to conventional saliva control measures.

Trial registration: The present study bearing CTRI number-CTRI/2020/05/025447 was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry-India under ICMR-National Institute of Medical Statistics on 29/05/2020 prospectively.