General anesthesia: as a challenge and treatment need option in pediatric dentistry

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the type and characteristics of the interventions, indications of dental treatment and procedures performed to patients treated under general anesthesia (GA) by pediatric dentistry residents, during the 1997-1999 period. METHOD: A sample of 57 hospital records of patients treated as part of the Special Pediatric Course at the Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital were reviewed. Statistical analysis was done using the chi-square test for inferences on proportions. RESULTS: MR patients made up 59.7and NMR patients made up 40.3of the sample studied. Ages ranged from 2 to 35 years with a mean age of 11 years (SD=8.54). MR patients were classified into 7 categories: mental retardation (38.2), cerebral palsy (14.7), epileptic (5.9), mental syndromes (26.9), hydrocephalic (5.9), autism (5.9) and others (2.9). The NMR were classified into 5 categories: early childhood caries (65.2), cardiac patients (8.7), maxillofacial anomalies (4.3), organic syndromes (13.1) and others (8.7). The dental procedures performed were: dental extractions 84(MR) and 68(NMR), restorative procedures 87.3(MR) and 12.7(NMR). Oral prophylaxis was performed in 76.8, fissure sealants in 10.7and topical fluoride applications in 21.8. CONCLUSION: Dental extraction was a frequently performed procedure in both groups. The prevalence of exodontia and restorative procedures indicates the need to design and implement prevention programs for special pediatric patients.

La Odontología en España: Hacia la Integración en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior / Odontology in Spain: towards the integration to the European high education space

The European Higher Education Space (EHES) is a project to harmonize all the European University systems in order that all of them will posses a homogeneous structure of undergraduate, graduate and post graduate studies. The time period established to implement this project is year 2010. The present paper describes the establishment of a new career degree model in Spain, the degree in Dentistry that started twenty years ago. Also it has been stated the number of the present Departments and Schools, the access system to Public University Schools of Spain, the evaluation system, and which are the new mechanisms incorporated in the Spanish University system to implement this integration to the EHEE. This is the moment to design the new master guidelines to obtain homogeneous career degrees that may imply more accessibility and mobility of students and professionals.