Periodic Oral Care under Ambulatory General Anesthesia Prolongs Tooth Life in Patients with Intellectual Disabilities

Aims: The effect of periodic biannual oral care under ambulatory general anesthesia for patients with intellectual disabilities who are markedly uncooperative undergo. Methods: The details of dental procedures were compared retrospectively between the cure group (58 patients with intellectual disabilities who visited our hospital after the appearance of a symptom such as pain) and the care group (61 patients with intellectual disabilities who underwent periodic biannual oral care under ambulatory general anesthesia). Results: In the care group, the frequencies of dental treatment while conscious and while under general anesthesia decreased to 2/3 (p<0.01), the numbers of tooth extraction and pulp extirpation decreased to 1/9 (p<0.01), and the frequencies of root canal treatment and tooth restoration decreased to 1/15 (p<0.01) and 1/3 (p<0.01), respectively, which were significant differences. Conclusion: For patients with intellectual disabilities who strongly refuse treatment, periodic biannual oral care (professional tooth cleaning, scaling, and filling incipient dental caries) under ambulatory general anesthesia is effective to maintain their occlusal health. It also can reduce the frequency of invasive procedures as well as medical expenses.