Dental treatment under general anaesthetic and children's oral health-related quality of life

Data sources Medline, Scopus and the Web of Science.

Study selection Studies conducted in children under 16 undergoing general anaesthesia having change in oral health-related quality of life were considered. Selection was undertaken by two reviewers independently.

Data extraction and synthesis Data abstraction was undertaken independently by three groups of two reviewers – discrepancies were resolved by discussion. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies of Diverse Design (QATSDD).

Results Twenty studies were included; there were 18 prospective studies, one randomised trial and one secondary analysis study. Most studies used a pre-test–post-test design and all but one used proxy measures of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). All of the studies reported improved OHRQoL overall. However, results suggested that some aspects of OHRQoL may worsen.

Conclusions Heterogeneity of included papers limited the conclusions which could be drawn. Treatment under GA appears to result in overall improvements in proxy-reported OHRQoL; however, there is a need for further high-quality studies employing validated, child-reported measures of OHRQoL.