Abstract
Objective: To analyze children's and parents' oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and children's dental fears before and after the dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia (DRGA). Material and Methods: 104 parents and their 3 to 13-year-old children (5.90 ± 2.42) who received DRGA were surveyed before and after DRGA. The children were divided into two groups: Group 1 - healthy children (n=43) and Group 2 - children with medical problems (n=61). After recording their socio-demographic information, parents completed a self-administered questionnaire named Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS), which includes two main parts - Child Impact Section (CIS) and Family Impact Section (FIS). On the other hand, the children received a dentist-administered questionnaire named Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) and Frankle Behavior Scale (FBS). For statistical analyses, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank, Mann Whitney-U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman's Correlation tests were used. Results: A statistically significant decrease in all CIS, FIS, ECOHIS and CFSS-DS scores was observed after DRGA (p<0.01). This decline was greater in healthy children than in children with systemic problems (p<0.01). Conclusion: Children's and parents' OHRQoL showed better results after DRGA. The decreases in dental anxiety in children were observed after DRGA.
Highlights
Dental caries is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among children [1]
children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and the children who did not accept the conventional treatment in the clinic because they had dental anxiety or they were too young were included in this study, while the children who were unable to perform the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) questionnaire due to their mental retardation, the children who previously received dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia (DRGA), and the children whose parents did not complete the questionnaire were excluded in this study
There are studies in the literature evaluating the effect of dental treatment under general anesthesia on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) [5,11,12,13,30], a study sample comparing healthy children with CSHCN has not been found
Summary
Dental caries is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among children [1]. Preschool children are reluctant for treatment because of extensive caries, long-lasting treatment sessions and high levels of dental anxiety [3,4]; behaviour changes are associated with age [5]. Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have congenital or acquired disabilities that can be physical, developmental, mental or behavioural and need regular medical controls, specialized programs and services [6,7]. Dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia (DRGA) may be preferred for non-cooperated, very young aged children and/or CSHCN [5,8]. DRGA provides pain-free treatment, which decreases dental anxiety [9]
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