Reasons for and parental satisfaction with children's dental care under general anaesthesia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe why healthy children's previous treatment experiences can be reasons for their dental treatment under general anaesthesia (GA), and to describe their parents' experiences and satisfaction with that treatment. The data cover those children (n=102) below 16 years of age who, being otherwise healthy, were referred for Public Dental Service GA dental care in Helsinki, Finland, over the course of one year because of serious difficulties in dental treatment. The parents were given a self-administered questionnaire inquiring about their child's previous experiences of dental care, and about their access to and satisfaction with the present GA treatment. Data on the children's dental state were taken from patient records. The children's mean age was 6.4 years (SD=2.6 years), and the mean number of teeth with untreated caries was 7.7 (SD=3.0). Of the total sample, 32% had undergone four or more previous unsuccessful dental visits. At the time of their first difficulties in dental care, 39% were below 3 years of age. The older the child, the more serious was her or his parents' ranking of the difficulties met during dental care (P=0.02). From the parents' point of view, dental fear was the most important reason for treatment failures, followed by pain. Seeking GA treatment had been easy for 93% of parents, and most of them were also satisfied with their child's present GA treatment. The most important factors leading to the use of GA, as reported by the parents, are dental fear and repeated unpleasant experiences during dental care, and therefore, these should always be properly diagnosed, prevented and controlled.