Dental caries treatment completed under general anesthesia among American Indian children in a northern plains tribal community.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the occurrence of treatment under general anesthesia (GA) for dental caries among American Indian (AI) children from a Northern Plains tribal community. METHODS: As part of a follow-up study of ECC, dental records for children age 6-8 years were evaluated. Descriptive statistics were generated, including the number of dental visits, extent of treatment, and whether the treatment was completed under GA. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 95 dental records. The age of dental visits varied from 15 months to 8 years. Of the 95 children, 79 (83.2%) received dental treatment under GA at least once; 24 (25.2%) did so two or more times. The majority of the treatment involved extractions and placement of stainless steel crowns. CONCLUSIONS: A large number of AI children received dental treatment under GA; many did so multiple times. Given the high cost of this treatment, even modestly effective preventive strategies such as silver diamine fluoride could yield cost savings.