Dental Treatments under General Anesthesia on Children with Special Health Care Needs Enrolled in the Spanish Dental Care Program

The purpose is to analyze the medical characteristics of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) recommended for dental treatment under general anesthesia (GA), postoperative complications, and dental treatment outcomes under the regulation of the Spanish Dental Care Program (PADI). 111 clinical records were selected. The study population was divided into three age groups. The quantitative data was specified as the mean +/- SD. For the qualitative variables, the Chi-Square test was used. One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni tests were used to examine the effect of the age group and the number of treatment procedures. A total of 1473 treatment procedures were performed, of which 110 (7.5%) were cleanings, 898 (61%) were restorative procedures, 332 (21.7%) were extractions, 22 (1.6%) were endodontic treatments, 62 (4.2%) were pulpotomies, and 59 (4%) were stainless steel crowns. Regarding the mean number of incisor root canal treatments (RCT), age group 3 received a significantly higher mean number of incisor RCTs than age group 1 (p = 0.02). Age group 1 received a higher average of pulpotomies and stainless-steel crowns (p = 0.00) compared to groups 2 and 3. GA is a safe procedure for the dental treatment of CSHCN, with minimal postoperative complications, which should be included among dental public programs.

Automated summary

The study aimed to analyze the medical characteristics, postoperative complications, and treatment outcomes of children with special health care needs recommended for dental treatment under general anesthesia in the Spanish Dental Care Program. The research found that GA is a safe procedure for dental treatment of CSHCN, with minimal postoperative complications and good treatment outcomes.