Abstract
Dental treatment under general anesthesia has become a valuable procedure for the management of handicapped children. In our clinic, general anesthesia was introduced about 19 years ago and since then its significant role in treatment has been fully recognized. The purpose of the present study is to survey the cases of dental treatment performed under general anesthesia at our clinic during the past 19 years. The results are summarized as follows:
1) 105 patients (76 boys and 29 girls) were treated under general anesthesia during this period. The number of patients per year was less than 10 during the years 1967-1982, although a gradual increment has been recognized since 1983. There were differences in several respects concerning the ages and diseases of patients, as well as the therapeutic procedures when the cases treated during the years 1967-1975 (first term) were compared to those treated during the years 1980-1985 (last term).
2) In the first term,77% of patients were under 10 years of age, half of whom were handicapped with cerebral palsy. On the other hand,93% were over 11 years in the last term, one third of whom were affected with emotional disturbances.
3) The mean number of treated teeth per patient was 10.6 in the first term, the majority of which were deciduous teeth, either extracted or filled with amalgam. On the other hand,7.1 teeth per patient were treated in the last term, most of which were permanent teeth, and more than half of which were restored with inlays or cast crowns.
