Assessment of the Risk Factors for Oro-Dental Injuries to Occur during General Anesthesia and Measures taken by Anesthesiologist to Prevent them

BACKGROUND AND AIM Anesthesiologist gain access to the airway passage orally with the help of laryngoscope. Dental trauma can occur during different steps in anesthesia. The aim of the study is to evaluate the risk factor for dental trauma perioperatively and to look for the preventive measures mostly employed by the anesthesiologist to prevent dental insult. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study involved 40 anesthetists working in private hospitals using simple random sampling. They were asked to answer a questionnaire designed to look for the risk factors that makes tooth most prone for injury and find out the measures that anesthesiologists follow to prevent such injuries to occur. Codes were placed for the obtained data and Medcalc statistical package was used for analysis. RESULTS Injuries mostly occur during intubation with a laryngoscope in patients where there is limited visibility to the hypopharynx. Maxillary left central incisor was mostly affected. Some anesthetists used plastic blades or curved blades to prevent such injury. CONCLUSION Patient with poor dentition and history of difficult intubation should be sent for pre-operative dental evaluation to prevent dental injuries.