Background: Dental injury as a result of oroendotracheal intubation during general anesthesia is very common. We report our experiences of using mouthguard to prevent dental injury during intubation based on our protocol.
Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients referred for preanesthetic evaluation, those patients with a history of any of the dental treatments to their anterior teeth listed on our fabrication protocol from January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.
Results: No cases of dental trauma during oroendotracheal intubation were reported among the 202 patients who used a protective device. 66% of the patients had risk factors for hard tissue damage aged 10-40 years. At the ages of 40-70 years, the incidence of risk group for periodontal damage was higher.
Conclusions: Preanesthetic consultation was effective for preventing dental injury, so preanesthetic questionnaire and proper dental consultation would be helpful.
Keywords: Dental trauma; General anesthesia; Intubation; Prevention.