The topic of general anesthesia for dental procedures in preschool-age kids is popping up all over the news these days. Dentists around the country are reporting more and more preschool-age children suffering tooth decay from lack of dental attention between the early ages of one and four.
This trend is a significant problem affecting families of all income levels. In a study five years ago, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first increase in 40 years in the number of preschool-age children with cavities. We aren’t talking about the occasional lone cavity, though. Dentists are reporting increased incidences of children coming to the dentist for the first time in their lives with 6-10 cavities.
There are many likely reasons for this trend, and they go beyond the simple concept that these children eat too many unhealthy foods. Perfectly well-intentioned parents aren’t aware that they need to start brushing their child’s teeth – with fluoride toothpaste – at age one. Additionally, many parents aren’t aware that putting a child to bed with a sippy cup of juice or a bottle of milk increases the chance for tooth decay. Furthermore, dentists often notice people expressing the false notion that dental care for baby teeth is unnecessary because baby teeth fall out anyway.
Both ABC News and The New York Times have quoted Dr. Amr Moursi, chairman of pediatric dentistry at NYU’s College of Dentistry, as saying, “The need for dental operating rooms at NYU exceeds the supply, forcing dentists to compete with cardiac surgeons and neurosurgeons for operating room time, and forcing patients to wait three to six months to have their dental surgeries scheduled.” Additionally, he said, “It’s hard to find pediatric dentists with operating room privileges, which further squeezes the ability to treat children in need.” He added, “There’s not enough operating rooms in the country equipped to do dental work.”
Operating rooms equipped for dental anesthesia may be scarce, but our Dr. Len Futerman is a certified dental anesthesiologist and Advanced Sedation Dentistry is well-equipped and highly experienced in providing the type of care these preschool-age children so desperately need. In these types of extreme cases, general anesthesia for dental procedures allows children to get the care they need with less pain and trauma from the experience.
