A review of repeat general anesthesia for pediatric dental surgery in Alberta, Canada.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to review data from the province of Alberta, Canada for First Nations children who required more than 1 general anesthesia (GA) procedure for dental surgery from 1996 to 2005.


METHODS
This study was limited to First Nations and Inuit children younger than 18 years old in Alberta who received 2 or more GA procedures to facilitate dental treatment Data spanning 1996 to 2005 were provided from the Alberta Regional Office of First Nations & Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada.


RESULTS
The entire database contained claims for 339 children who received repeat GA procedures for rehabilitative dental core. Seventy-six percent received 2 procedures, while the remainder underwent 3 or more surgeries. Twenty-four percent of First Nations children in this cohort were subjected to >2 GA procedures. Retreatment of previously restored teeth was a common observation. The majority of children were treated by general practitioners instead of pediatric dentists. Seventy-four percent who had 2 or more surgeries were treated by general dentists at the time of the first GA procedure. The mean age of children at the time of the first GA procedure was not associated with whether children received 2 or more GA procedures for dental care (P=.07).


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that there may be on over-reliance on GA to treat dental caries for First Notions children in Alberta.
Schroth
Robert J
RJ
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. umschrot@cc.umanitoba.ca
Smith
W F
WF
D000416:Alberta; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D004930:Inuit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D019233:Retreatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies