Predicting Negative Outcomes While Awaiting Dental Treatment Under General Anesthesia.

To determine the wait time for dental treatment under general anesthesia (GA) and its impact on clinical outcomes in a pediatric population at federally qualified health centers in the United States.
Data were collected from 566 pediatric subjects who underwent dental rehabilitation under GA between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014. One-way analysis of variance and linear regression analyses were performed.
Patients waited 110.6 days (±standard deviation: 103.9 days) between the initial and treatment visits. Regression analysis demonstrated that prolonged wait time was a significant predictor for an increased number of preoperative visits and more teeth treated than planned. Among the 25.1 percent of patients who returned for follow-up after surgery, 18.6 percent presented with pain, swelling, or broken/ displaced restorations. The Canadian diagnostic code system was associated with the American Society of Anesthesiologists classification system ( <0.001) and was not coincident with wait time.
Longer wait time was associated with continuous pain, more teeth treated than planned, and more frequent pre- and post-operative visits. Wait time was predictive of a higher number of preoperative visits. Initial visit pain, and extra- and intra-oral swelling were associated with the Canadian diagnostic system.