Background and aim: This study assessed the demographic, treatment, and patient characteristics relating to 2-year postoperative failure and success rate of 2 to 12-years-old healthy children that underwent various dental procedures during comprehensive dental treatment under general anesthesia (GA).
Materials and methods: A retrospective study was conducted after the completion of a 2-year postoperative follow-up examination. The hospital records of all the children were reviewed by an experienced examiner. In the follow-up appointment, the clinical and radiographic evaluations of the treatments, oral hygiene, and oral hygiene practices were recorded. A P value of <0.05 was set as statistically significant.
Results: Around 221 healthy children were included in the study, with a mean (SD) age of 4.92 (1.37). The most common type of failure detected 2 years postoperatively were recurrent decay (mean = 2.68, SD = 2.50), followed by stainless steel crown (SSC) open margin (mean = 0.69, SD = 1.02). Children with good oral hygiene involved the highest number of successful procedures (mean = 5.28, SD = 1.99) (P = 0.032). Children with poor oral hygiene was the factor that involved the highest number of procedure failures (mean = 8.28, SD = 3.38) (P < 0.001). The Pearson correlation coefficient showed that the younger the mean age of children during treatment under GA, the higher the rate of dental procedure failure (r = -0.202, n = 221, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: The failure rate of dental procedures performed during treatment under GA was highest among younger children and children with poor oral hygiene at the time of treatment. SSC crown restoration was the most common type of dental procedure received, and recurrent decay and SSC open margin were the most common types of failure detected.
Keywords: Dental treatment under general anesthesia; failure rate; success rate.