Dr. Arina Vinereanu

Dental General Anaesthesia in Paediatric Patients – To do or not to do

Dental caries remains the most prevalent chronic disease in children and the most common reason for young children to be hospitalized. Prevention policies promoted by international forums (EAPD, IAPD) cannot counterbalance the effects of fake science news that ban the use of fluoride toothpastes in young children and convince too many mothers to breastfeed their babies at request for as long as possible; increasingly busy parents overindulge their children with improper diet and all these factors sometimes result in complex oral health problems in very young kids.

In patients with complex general diseases and special healthcare needs, the impact of the main disease on child and family’s life usually causes oral health to fall on a secondary place of concern. For these children dental care is often sought only when symptoms occur and the needed treatment is already complex enough to require either good cooperation or GA.

Where available, general anaesthesia for dental treatment is often perceived as a stress-free solution to dental problems in young children as well as in patients with special healthcare needs. However, parents must be educated to not underestimate the long-term impact of failure to build healthy feeding and oral hygiene habits since the earliest stages of life. GA must not be seen as the key to stress-free dentistry, but as a high-tech, costly means to solve complex clinical situations that could not be avoided. Early establishment of a Dental Home can be regarded as the safe way to provide efficient prevention and therefore dramatically limit the actual need for dental GA.

Acknowledgements: This work is partly supported by the Erasmus + Project 2019-1-RO01-KA202-063820 - Oral Special Care Academic Resources (O.S.C.A.R.)