Death in the dental chair.

Abstract

I am extremely disturbed by Dr Cartwright's February editorial. The attitude of the Royal College committee which he seems to convey is not, ‘How can we conduct dental anaesthesia in the surgery safely?’ but, ‘Prepare for abolition’. I agree there should be no anaesthetic deaths in the dental surgery — though, I believe, there are a few each year which are not associated with general anaesthesia. What I cannot agree about is that there is any need for the UK to be the same as other parts of the world. We do need to educate the British Public, but, please, not to be the same as the rest of the world! The difference between us and the rest of the world is why we still have the finest anaesthetic service. Dr Cartwright airily dismisses more than half my dental clientele — the physically and mentally handicapped, some children, etc. These really do need to be catered for, and I suspect far fewer general anaesthetics, conducted by consultants who do undergo peer review, will produce the dramatic improvement required. Already, I believe that the dental surgeries where I work are better than many places, for example, where ECTs, abortions, and some routine surgery are performed. The dental surgeries I work at are unlike some hospitals only because they do not have a mortuary attached, and do not keep patients lying on trolleys for hour after hour! Why not just leave the GDC regulations to settle down, pro tem?