A Retrospective Comparison of Dental Treatment under General Anesthesia Provided for Uncooperative Healthy Patients and Patients with Special Health Care Needs

Abstract

Background/Objective: This retrospective comparative analysis evaluates the patterns of dental treatment undertaken on uncooperative healthy and special health care needs patients with respect to different age categories. Study design: This study reviewed the data from 342 patients (205 male and 137 female), between the ages of 1 and 12 at the time of the treatment, who had received comprehensive dental treatment under general anesthesia in the operating rooms of the Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University from January 2016 through December 2018. Patient records were divided into two groups according to the patient’s medical and mental conditions. SHCN patients (272 patients) with at least one type of mental, medical or physical disability were assigned to Group S and uncooperative healthy patients (70 patients) were assigned to Group H. Treatment modalities of restorative procedures, number of extracted teeth, pulp therapy, and other dental procedures were compared between these groups with respect to eruptional stages in the dentition (<6 years and 6–12 years) Results: There was no significant difference between groups H and S in terms of the mean duration of dental treatment among age categories in both groups. The mean number of extracted teeth was significantly greater in Group S. The mean number of teeth treated by restorative procedures in groups H and S were 4.40 and 4.40, respectively, showing no significant difference. Conclusions: Comparison of two different groups, with patients who have received comprehensive dental treatment in an operating room, revealed that the number of teeth extracted was significantly higher for the SHCN patients. On the basis of our results, it was concluded that medical and mental conditions affect dental treatment modalities. Preventive treatment strategies are particularly required for patients with SHCN and it is important to educate patients and their parents/caregivers on the importance of home dental care.