Oral Health of Patients with Special Health Care Needs After General Anesthesia: A 25- Year Retrospective Study.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to compare the oral health state and dental treatment outcomes of patients with special health care needs (SHCN) after general anesthesia (GA), according to their compliance with dental checkups.

METHODS

The medical records of SHCN patients who were treated under GA in a dental hospital from 1991 to 2016 were analyzed. The 157 patients in this study were divided into regular (N equals 62) and irregular (n equals 95) dental checkups.

RESULTS

The mean age was 16.4 years (range equals two to 52); 96 were male, and 61 were female. In the irregular checkup group, invasive treatments like pulp treatment and extraction were performed more frequently during the checkup period (P<0.05). More patients underwent repeated GA in the irregular group (n equals 35; 36.8 percent) compared to the regular group (n equals six; 9.7 percent; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In our study, special health care needs patients in the irregular checkup group were approximately four times more likely to undergo repeated general anesthesia than those in the regular group. A regular checkup could reduce repeated GA and severity of dental treatment. Therefore, regular checkups must be included in the treatment plan of SHCN patients.