An analysis of the provision of paediatric dental general anaesthesia at two centres

Key Points

• This paper shows how patterns of use of dental general anaesthesia (DGA) vary between centres in terms of the patients who use them and the treatment that they receive.

• The use of DGA has also varied with time, showing a decline that may have been partly a consequence of changes in anaesthetic policy designed to reduce risk.

• The new GDC recommendations are likely to have a strong effect on patterns of use of service in primary care. These will need further monitoring in the future to check that services remain accessible to those children who need them.

Abstract

Aim

At two contrasting centres, to describe the provision of dental general anaesthesia (DGA) for simple non-surgical extractions in terms of the type of treatment provided, including the number of primary and permanent teeth extracted, and the characteristics of child patients attending in terms of their age group and gender.

Design

Retrospective analysis of hospital records.

Method

Data were drawn from records of services over a 12-month period in 1996/97 at: a) a London dental hospital (Centre 1), and b) in the community dental services in Rochdale, Lancashire (Centre 2). Information was collated and analysed using the SPSS statistical software package.

Results

The majority of patients at both centres were aged less than 9 years. Almost one third (31%) of those seen at Centre 1 were below 5 years of age, but fewer of this age group were treated at Centre 2. Children aged 9 years or less had an average of 5.4 (SD = 3.0) primary teeth extracted at Centre 1 and 3.0 (SD = 2.0) at Centre 2. For permanent teeth, an average of 3.2 (SD = 1.2) and 2.7 (SD= 1.4) were extracted at Centres 1 and 2 respectively.

Conclusions

Both services were used primarily for the extraction of primary teeth although the services differed in the ages of patients who used them and in the numbers of teeth extracted. Numbers of patients attending the service at Centre 1 had declined over time but numbers of teeth extracted per child had increased.

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