BMC Oral Health. 2025 May 23;25(1):774. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-06168-y.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: In this review, we aimed to determine the effects of dental treatment under general anesthesia on the oral health-related quality of life and dental fear of preschool children.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive electronic search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library was conducted up to July 20, 2023 (updated on April 10, 2024). A manual search and evaluation of the gray literature were also performed. Clinical trials utilizing a before-and-after design to evaluate the effects of dental treatment under general anesthesia (DGA) on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and dental fear in preschool-aged children were included in this research. To assess study quality, tools specifically designed for “before-after studies without control groups” were employed to determine potential biases. Two independent investigators conducted separate evaluations of the studies’ quality assessment processes. A meta-analysis was conducted via the random effects model.
RESULTS: In the final analysis, 13 studies employing a pre-post design were included. The meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant difference in Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) scores between the pre-evaluation group (n = 1365) and the post-evaluation group (n = 1344) (mean difference [MD] = 9.61, 95% CI: 6.28-12.93; P < 0.00001). However, there was no significant difference in the mean Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) score between the pre-evaluation group (n = 536) and the post-evaluation group (n = 531) (MD = 5.53, 95% CI: -16.48-27.54; P = 0.62).
CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that children who received dental treatment with general anesthesia experienced improvements in their oral health-related quality of life. However, there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that dental treatment with general anesthesia can effectively alleviate dental fear in children.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dental treatment with general anesthesia significantly improved the OHRQoL of children. However, methods to improve dental fear in children during this procedure remain to be explored.
PMID:40410840 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-06168-y
