title: The burden of early childhood caries in the Western Cape Public Service in relation to dental general anaesthesia: implications for prevention.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple extractions under Dental General Anaesthesia (DGA) are frequently performed on pre-school children treated in the public sector in the Western Cape. There s a need to examine current public health strategies in relation to Early Childhood Caries (ECC) in order to provide a framework for both the improvement of treatment and the prevention of ECC in general.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective descriptive study reviewed the records on the Department of Health (DoH) database of 16 732 pre-school patients treated under Dental General Anaesthesia over a three year period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 58 255 procedures recorded for these preschool patients in the district health clinics in the Western Cape, 99.94% were for extractions and 0.0001 for restorations. The average rate of DGA per 1000 of the population was 1.06. Only 9% (i.e.: 2/22) of dentists at district clinics reported that pre-DGA prevention was provided.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The demand for DGA was found in this study to be relatively high and the associated treatment was almost exclusively by means of extractions. The lack of preventive measures could possibly result in a need for retreatment under DGA. Therefore, preventive guidelines are recommended for use in the Public Service.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X1, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa. fpeerbhay@uwc.ac.za
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peerbhay
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Barrie
mesh_terms: D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003740:Dental Clinics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D011636:Public Health Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017150:Public Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data