Aim: Treatment under general anaesthesia (DGA) is a rising trend in Finland. There is a great need to investigate the causes leading to it. Our purpose was to examine family-related factors reported by parents, such as the family size and favoring DGA in the family, and their influence on children being treated under DGA. This survey was based on a questionnaire targeted to parents of children whose dental treatment could not be performed in a conventional setting.
Materials and methods: Guardians of 87 healthy children treated under DGA at a municipal health center in the city of Oulu, Finland, between November 2014 and December 2015 answered the questionnaire on family-related background factors and on the respondent's own as well as their child's presumed dental fear.
Results: According to most guardians (83.9% of the cases), the reason for DGA was caries. Male gender, vague family structure, large number of siblings (?4), and DGA history in the family were all important family-related background factors leading to DGA. Self-reported parental dental fear was quite common (25.3%). Children's dental fear reported by parents was associated with DGA in almost half of the cases (46.0%).
Conclusions: The survey highlights the role of the entire family in association with children ending up being treated under DGA. It is essential for the success of dental health care to also consider family-related factors when planning the treatment, particularly with children demanding DGA.