The Prevalence and Factors Associated with Sibling-Recurrent Dental Treatment Under General Anesthesia at an Academic Institution.

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of and factors that contribute to sibling-recurrent dental general anesthesia (DGA) at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va., USA. Subjects were recruited from July 25, 2017 to March 15, 2018. The guardian of patients with siblings who attended a university pediatric dental clinic were provided a questionnaire to assess the prevalence and factors associated with recurrent DGA. A provider survey was completed to ensure inclusion/exclusion criteria were met. A total of 40 families with a child presenting for general anesthesia (GA) and who had at least one sibling were included in the study. Of these, 45 percent had sibling-recurrent GA treatment; 20 percent of patients had one sibling; and 25 percent had two or more sibling-recurrent DGA (P<.05). Additionally, 13 percent of the children currently presenting for GA had already been treated under GA, and 15 percent of the siblings previously treated with GA had recurrent caries after GA. Sibling-recurrent general anesthesia is high at Virginia Commonwealth University's Pediatric Dentistry Clinic. This increased prevalence could be due to parental acceptance and positive experiences with DGA. Dental providers should be proactive with prevention of recurrent DGA.