Dentistry

Abstract

Audit of Gross Decay Treatment in Young Children under General Anaesthetic

Jacqueline A. Pawlak, Hanny Calache, Andrea M. de Silva, Margaret J. Henry and Michael Smith

In Australia, dental caries is one of the most prevalent diseases effecting children. For more severe cases a dental general anaesthetic (GA) is required. A retrospective analysis of clinical records for all patients aged up to 10 years who attended Barwon Health (Geelong, Victoria, Australia) for a dental GA from 2010-2012 was performed. There were 236 separate events in 234 children, with 223 new cases and 11 that had already received a dental GA prior to the study period. The average age of patients at their dental GA procedure was 6.3 ? 2.0 years. Prior to the GA, the average dmft/DMFT was 8 (6-12) (median, interquartile range). The length of time from referral to GA increased significantly from 166.4 days (SD 108.1), 164.3 days (SD 98.9) to225.4 days (SD 129.5) in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. Follow up review appointments after GA appointment was attended by 10.8%, 37.3% and 36.0% of patients, respectively across the same years. Following the findings of long waiting times for GA procedures for children with severe dental caries,and the low rate of attendance for post-GA reviews, a change in dental process is urgently needed.