Editorial: The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification system and its utilization for dental patient evaluation.

Patient care efficacy and safety of the patient during dental treatment is of paramount importance to all those providing dental care – the dentists, dental hygienists, public health dental hygienists, dental assistants, and the expanded function dental assistants. The demographics of a dental patient have changed considerably in the recent past, as the typical life span of population has increased. This may be attributable to advancements in medicine, as well as management of once life-threatening medical conditions now regarded as chronic manageable diseases. In the Western world, there are better facilities for patient transportation. This brings patients of all walks of life, with multiple medical conditions, and having polypharmacy, reporting for dental care. It is incumbent upon us to be vigilant and attend to the dental patients with complex medical conditions. The ASA physical status (ASA PS) classification was first developed in 1941 by the American Society of Anesthetists, later known as the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The latest version of the ASA classification was approved in 2014.1 Its intent was to evaluate the preoperative status of surgical patients. The ASA classification is a good independent predictor of perioperative morbidity and mortality and has been criticized for its implicit assumption that age is unrelated to physiologic fitness. This assumption may be untrue, as neonates and elderly are far more delicate in their tolerance of anesthetic agents compared to young adults. Therefore, in the dental context, the ASA classification is only used in terms of overall evaluation for fitness as a dental patient and not purely a “surgical risk indicator.” The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification system and its utilization for dental patient evaluation