Hospital Dentistry

By Gina C. Pham, DDS

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Hospital Dentistry

Many times when I recommended that a child receive treatment under general anesthesia in a hospital setting, parents were puzzled and confused. When they hear the words “hospital dentistry” mentioned, some parents feel quite compelled to quickly reject the notion.

Recent reports from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry have indicated that over the past few years, more parents have become more comfortable and appreciative of hospital dental surgical procedures. The purpose of this article is to help parents understand hospital dentistry.

What is hospital dentistry?

It is a service that some pediatric dentists would offer their selected patients to be treated under general anesthesia in a hospital setting. This is a one-time outpatient dental surgical procedure that ranges from thirty minutes up to three hours of sedation time, depending on the severity of the child's dental needs.

Patients who cannot be treated successfully in a dental office may benefit from or require treatment in a hospital by a pediatric dentist working in conjunction with a medical anesthesiologist. Patients that require hospital dentistry are often those children with significant medical and dental conditions.

Patients falling into these categories are young infants and children with early childhood caries (aka, nursing bottle caries), severe congenital enamel or dentin malformations (soft teeth), or children and adolescents with physical and mental health conditions. Hospital dentistry may also be offered to children who were overly apprehensive and extremely uncooperative for other reasons.

Is general anesthesia safe?

Like any other surgical procedure, there is some risk associated with general anesthesia. However, it can be used safely and effectively when administered by appropriately trained medical professionals in an appropriately equipped facility. In a hospital operating room, anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists are trained to manage complications and will monitor your child closely.

Your child's pediatric dentist will discuss the reasons for recommending hospital dentistry for your child and the risks and benefits of general anesthesia. As a reminder, to prevent early childhood caries that may put your child in a hospital setting for dental treatment, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that a child's first dental visit should be soon after the first tooth eruption or no later than one year of age.