Early Childhood Caries & Treatment Under General Anesthesia

Though many parents are knowledgeable that children must get rid of the baby feeding bottle at the age of one year and that the baby by no means should go to sleep while clutching the bottle, many just can’t discontinue the habit, or else, many merely surrender with the intention that the family can get a little much-needed sleep. The fault hits hard, however, while these parents get their toddlers to the paediatric dentist, they realise that the child requires up to 10 to 20 fillings, crowns and/or tooth extractions to undo the harm caused by ECC – Early Childhood Caries.

ECC / Early Childhood Caries – Does it really matter!

Yes, it does!
A glance at the occurrence and seriousness of this ECC, demonstrates why it is so significant for the dentists to lay emphasis on prevention and as necessary, recommend different treatment options for these kids.

Evidence of Early Childhood Caries

• 38% of children aged I to 2 years develop ECC
• 56% of children aged 2 to 3 years develop ECC.

In certain economically underprivileged families, almost 80% of infants and preschoolers were found to have Early Childhood Caries..

What is Early Childhood Caries

Early childhood caries (ECC) is also commonly known as Baby bottle caries, Baby bottle tooth decay, Bottle rot.ECC is a severe decay in the teeth of infants or young children and is characterised by extensive, rapidly progressive, deep decay of the upper front milk teeth and often the back teeth.

Wake up before it is too late!

If neglected, ECC could be a serious problem.

If delayed, your child’s decayed teeth may very soon become necrotic and can cause alveolar abscesses, which often leads to diffuse swelling of the surrounding soft tissues.

These abscesses are quite painful and can also harm the underlying, developing permanent tooth buds. Worse yet, this condition can cause disfigurement and hamper the child’s ability to eat.

Consequences of ECC

Treatment for Early Childhood Caries?

Paediatric dentists find themselves walking a fine line while helping children facing this problem. Most young children can be treated adequately using behavioural techniques. On the other hand,
Some kids cannot receive treatment via these conventional methods. Infants and children who have not yet attained emotional maturity, neither have the ability to understand the need for the treatment nor the effective and appropriate skills to get through invasive and potentially uncomfortable and expressively frightening dental procedures. For many of these children, treatment under General Anaesthesia (GA) in a hospital setting represents the best possible or the single venue to deliver the required oral health care.

Literature support:
• Dental management using General Anesthesia is a one-step rehabilitation treatment for young children with severe dental problems.
• What is GA? – GA is a controlled state of unconsciousness.
• It has been almost three decades that dental rehabilitation under GA has been delivered to young children.
• In many cases, GA is the only practically possible and time-saving mode of treatment.
In a single session under GA, different procedures including GIC or composite restorations. Pulp therapies, stainless steel crowns (SSCs), extractions, preventive procedures like pit and fissure sealants and fluoride varnish applications are offered.
• The quality of dental care is much better with general anaesthesia for the reason that the dentist can perform treatment for the child without having to constantly adjust for the child’s movement and without having to prepare and encourage the child.

 

What are the advantages of Comprehensive Dental Rehabilitation Under GA?

• As already stated, under GA, all the necessary treatments are delivered in a single session in a hospital setting, thus providing efficient services in a safe and secure mode. Furthermore. GA is one modality that makes sure that the child received effective pain control.
• The added advantage is GA does not need the child’s cooperation as one prerequisite for treatment.
• Dental GA is more convenient and time-saving than treatment in an office setting.
• It has also been reported that dental treatments performed under GA have superior quality and durability than conventional treatments (BMC Oral Health 2014).

How much time does it take for the treatment of Caries?

The time required for dental rehabilitation under GA is considerably fluctuating with an average of 1 to 4 hours being the usual treatment time elapsed on a day-care basis. The total time required for the treatment is influenced by a number of teeth to be restored and the type of dental procedure.

Improved scheduling: We are glad to add to your information that you need not be dependent on the availability of operating suites at hospitals as we are now able to schedule and plan our procedures to deliver treatment to patients in a timely approach. On top, the scheduling flexibility makes it possible for the working parents and dentists in our practice to plan events to meet their requests as well.

Changing Parental Attitudes towards General Anaesthesia

Most of the parents convey “panic,” “fear,” and “concern, " with some level of nervousness towards GA. However, the attitude of parents concerning GA has altered over time in the favour of it. Currently, there is a swing towards growing acceptability of General Anaesthesia in parental opinion. After treatment under GA is complete, parents reported a reduction in the amount of dental pain or no pain, improvement in the sleeping pattern, eating habits and increased acceptance of parental tooth brushing. Dental rehabilitation under GA resulted in the instant improvement of the oral health, physical, emotional and social quality of life of the treated children. It also has a positive and encouraging impact on the family providing an enhanced opportunity for parents and child education on positive oral health behaviours, which can lead to positive behavioural changes and improved oral health for lifetime.

We are happy that most parents today recognize dental GA as a treatment modality that optimistically affects the quality of life of their young children.

 

Still have questions about Dental Caries and General Anaesthesia? We’d love to talk with you. Don’t hesitate to  request an appointment online , over the phone or our website to contact us  @thedentalspecialists.in

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