General anaesthesia for dental surgery

Abstract

A postal survey of the New Zealand dental profession was used to determine the place of general anesthesia in dental surgery. Approximately 1 patient in 7 who required dental extractions had teeth removed under general anesthesia. 14% of all anesthetics were administered by operator/anesthetists, with specialist anesthetists administering 40%. 16% of patients were admitted to hospital for dental surgery under general anesthesia. Doctors anesthetized more adult patients than did dentists. There appears to be a need for a modest increase in the number of anesthetists with training in anesthesia for outpatient dental surgery.