Dental Treatment of Pediatric Patients under General Anesthesia at Prince Rashid Bin Al-Hassan Hospital : A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the indications, characteristics of patients, and modalities of dental treatment of pediatric patients under general anesthesia at Prince Rashid military hospital in Irbid. Methods: This was a hospital- based, non- comparative, retrospective study, conducted at Prince Rashid Bin Al-Hassan military hospital in the North of Jordan over a period of 7 years between January 2006 and February 2013. Medical records of all pediatric patients who were treated under general anaesthesia were included. Extracted data included: age, gender, indication for treatment, type of treatment and procedure(s), number of teeth treated, number of previous dental treatment under general anesthesia, general health status, outcome, and follow up period. All patients were preoperatively assessed for general anaesthesia fitness by a pediatrician. Results: A total of 265 patients had dental treatment under general anesthesia, 144 (54.3%) males and 121 (45.7%) females with a male to female ratio of 1.2: 1 in both groups. The healthy patients were 226 (85.3%), 118 males and 108 females (male: female 1.1:1) and the disabled patients were 39 (14.7%), 28 males and 11 females (male: female 2.5: 1). The mean age of the patients was 5.98 years with a range of 2.5 to 15 years. The commonest age group treated was 4 to 6 years and the least common was 13-18 years in both healthy and disabled patients. The main indication for treatment of disabled and healthy patients was extreme un-cooperation. The commonest dental treatment provided for healthy male patients was dental extraction and for healthy female patients was dental fillings, while in disabled patients it was dental extraction for both male and female patients. The majority of patients were treated once under general anesthesia although percentage of disabled patients treated more than one time under general anesthesia was slightly higher than healthy patients. The main cause of medical or mental disability was cerebral palsy and rare syndromes such as De Lange, Ellis Van Crevelled, Cockayne, and Sanjad Sakati. Follow up period ranged between 6 months and 7 years with an average of 2.8 years. Conclusion: Although dental treatment under general anesthesia is effective and has the privilege of comprehensive treatment being done in one visit, risks of general anesthesia pose limitations for its use. The main indication for treatment was extremely uncooperative children with extensive dental damage. The commonest dental treatment provided was extraction and rare syndromes were more frequently seen than previous reports.