Abstract
We evaluated statistically 375 handicapped patients who underwent intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia during a seventeen-year period at our hospital (1981-1997).
The results were obtained as follows:
1.375 patients consisted of 235 males and 140 females; the average age of the cases being ten years and six months.
2. Patients from the outskirts of Kagoshima City accounted for about 69% of the total.
3. In classifying the types of handicap we found that mental retardation showed the highest frequency of all of the cases, followed by autism, cerebral palsy and other handicaps.
4. About 80% of the premedication involved a combination of scopolamine and pentazocine. The greater majority of the general anesthesia administrated was inhalation anesthesia by slow induction/nasotracheal intubation.
5. The average number of treated teeth per patient was 13.6, and the average time of treatment was 159 minutes. The treatments involved composite resin filling, extraction and dental pulp treatment in the order.
6. The average age of the patients increased year by year. The results suggested the necessity for making a new care system for patients of advanced age under general anesthesia.
