2021 Volume 42 Issue 3 Pages 243-249
At our hospital, we have established a treatment system that can provide intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia for disabled patients who have difficulty undergoing normal dental treatment and have a number of teeth affected by dental diseases. In principle, we have endeavored to continue oral cavity management of our patients through periodic maintenance after treatment in order to prevent the aggravation of dental diseases. However, there have also been cases where, due to aggravation of the dental disease, we have been forced to administer repeated intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia. Therefore, this retrospective study was conducted to clarify the factors leading to repeated intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia for disabled patients at our hospital.
The subjects included 72 patients who underwent intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia and continued maintenance for more than 3 years from April 1993 to August 2020 at our hospital. Forty-eight out of 72 patients underwent only one procedure, while the remaining 24 underwent multiple procedures.
The results of this study suggest that motor dysfunction, maintenance interruption for more than 1 year, fewer prosthetic treatments, endodontic treatments, extractions, more remaining molars, and more restorative treatments are all factors that influence the necessity of repeated intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia. These results suggest that it is important to consider the content of treatment according to the patient’s background and to educate patients and caregivers about the necessity of maintenance.
