Effect of Medical History on Different Treatment Modalities in Children Treated under General Anesthesia: A Retrospective Study

Purpose: To compare outcomes of dental treatment under general anesthesia for special health care need and healthy children in a population in Saudi Arabia and to determine whether the patient medical history affects the failure rates of procedures performed under general anesthesia. Subjects and Methods: The records for children who had rehabilitation between 2017 and 2018 and attended the follow up visits for two years following their general anesthesia were examined. Data regarding restoration failures were statistically analyzed. Results: Special health care need children had significantly more extractions (6.07±3.39) than healthy children (4.92±3.00). For special health care need children less than 6 years of age, the composite strip crown showed 100 % failure rate, whereas the preventive resin restoration showed the highest mean failure rate (85.71±37.80) for healthy children. A higher significant difference was found between mean failure rate of stainless steel crowns (21.28±22.92) among healthy children aged more than 6 years compared to special health care need children (10.68±19.55). Conclusion: Treatment approaches used for special health care need and healthy children under general anesthesia differ significantly, with extraction being the most frequently performed procedure among special health care need children and stainless steel crown being the most commonly performed treatment in healthy children.