title: Follow-up of children's oral health-related quality of life after dental general anaesthesia treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to analyze longitudinally the impact of young children's dental general anaesthesia (DGA) treatment on their OHRQoL and to determine their post-operative oral health status at the six-month follow-up together with parental ratings of their children's oral health.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective follow-up study of OHRQoL among Lithuanian child patients treated under general anaesthesia (n = 144). The study consisted of clinical dental examinations performed by two examiners at the time of DGA and at the six-month recall, along with OHRQoL surveys and data collected from the patients' files. The dmft index and Silness-Löe plaque index served as clinical measures. The survey tool for assessing the children's OHRQoL was the previously tested Lithuanian version of the ECOHIS. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test served for the statistical analysis (p < 0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ECOHIS scores clearly decreased post-operatively, indicating a significant (p < 0.001) improvement in the children's OHRQoL after the DGA treatment. The ECOHIS scores were lower immediately after the DGA treatment and remained low at the six-month recall. Parents rated their child's oral health as higher after the DGA treatment (p < 0.001). The majority (75%) of the patients had poor or satisfactory oral hygiene at follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This longitudinal study showed a sustained improvement in the children's OHRQoL six months after their DGA treatment. Post-operative parental ratings of their child's oral health were higher after the DGA treatment, but the children exhibited insufficient oral hygiene and new caries lesions. An appropriate follow-up system for children receiving DGA treatment with special focus on preventive care is needed.
authors.affiliation: a Clinic for Preventive and Paediatric Dentistry , Lithuanian University of Health Sciences , Kaunas , Lithuania.|b Clinic for Preventive and Paediatric Dentistry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Hospital , Kaunas , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Biruté
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jankauskiené
authors.affiliation: c Research Unit of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine , University of Oulu , Oulu , Finland.|d Medical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital , Oulu , Finland.
authors.forename: Jorma I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.affiliation: a Clinic for Preventive and Paediatric Dentistry , Lithuanian University of Health Sciences , Kaunas , Lithuania.|b Clinic for Preventive and Paediatric Dentistry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Hospital , Kaunas , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Julija
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Narbutaité
mesh_terms: D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000523:psychology*; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Children; dental general anaesthesia; follow-up; oral health; quality of life