Objective:

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and treatment modalities of children whose dental treatments were performed under general anesthesia.

Methods:

The records of 196 children (107 boys and 85 girls), who were treated by the same pediatric dentist between May 2013 and November 2016, were evaluated in this study.

Results:

The mean age was found as 5±1.9 years. Before the treatment procedure, the mean number of dental caries was calculated as 11±4.09. The frequency of different treatment modalities performed for the primary teeth was as follows: restorations (36%), extractions (35%), pulp treatment and restorations (24%), and fissure sealants (5%). According to the records on 97 permanent teeth, which was equal to 4.6% of all treated teeth, 15 extractions and 82 restorations were performed during the procedure. It was also observed that after the general anesthesia procedure the need for dental treatments could be managed under clinical conditions for all children, except for two of them who needed repeat therapies under general anesthesia.

Conclusion:

Given that oral health is closely related to quality of life in children and that children who are not cooperative to perform dental treatments due to excessive dental anxiety, general anesthesia can be indicated for them if they have a high number of caries during early childhood.

Keywords: General anesthesia, children, dental treatments under general anesthesia