Comparison of dental treatments performed under general anesthesia for healthy and disabled children

Background: This study aimed to assess and compare the type of dental procedures performedunder general anesthesia for healthy and disabled children.Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross‑sectional study evaluated 361 dental recordsof children who received dental treatments under general anesthesia in the operating room ofTorabinejad Research Center during 2011–2013. Patients with mental or physical disability werecategorized as disabled. The age and gender of patients, number of treated teeth, duration of generalanesthesia, type of tooth, and type of dental treatment such as extraction, pulp therapy, placementof stainless steel crowns, composite restoration, preventive resin restoration (PRR), fissure sealanttreatment, and fluoride therapy were separately recorded for the healthy group and patients withdisability. Data were analyzed using one‑way ANOVA, and independent sample t‑test at P 0.05level of significance.Results: Of 361 patients, 263 patients were healthy and 102 patients had disability. Of alldisabled children, 48% had physical and 52% had mental disability. Among patients with physicaldisability, allergy (40%), followed by cardiovascular diseases (26%) were the most common. Mentalretardation (54%) followed by cerebral palsy (10%) were the most common mental disabilities.Number of extracted teeth was significantly higher in disabled children (P = 0.006). Furthermore,disabled children received significantly lower PRR (P = 0.015), fissure sealant treatment (P = 0.003),fluoride therapy (P = 0.002), and pulp therapy (P 0.001) compared with healthy children.Conclusion: Tooth extraction has a higher frequency in disabled children; while, attempts aremade to preserve the teeth as much as possible in healthy children.