BACKGROUND:
This study retrospectively investigated outcomes following
dental implantation in
patients with special
needs who required
general anesthesia to enable
treatment.
METHODS:
Patients underwent implant
treatment under
general anesthesia at the Clinic for the Disabled in
Seoul National
University Dental
Hospital between January 2004 and June 2017. The study analyzed
medical records and radiographs. Implant
survival rates were calculated by applying criteria for success or failure.
RESULTS:
Of 19
patients in the study, 8 were
males and 11 were
females, with a mean age of 32.9 years. The
patients included 11 with
mental retardation, 3 with
autism, 2 with
cerebral palsy, 2 with
schizophrenia, and 1 with a
brain disorder; 2
patients also had
seizure disorders. All were incapable of oral
self-care due to serious
cognitive impairment and could not cooperate with normal dental
treatment. A total of 27 rounds of
general anesthesia and 1 round of intravenous sedation were performed for implant
surgery. Implant placement was performed in 3
patients whose
prosthesis records could not be found, while 3 other
patients had less than 1 year of follow-up after prosthetic
treatment. When the criteria for implant success or failure were applied in 13 remaining
patients, 3 implant failures occurred in 59 total
treatments. The
cumulative survival rate of implants over an average of 43.3 months (15-116 months) was 94.9%.
CONCLUSIONS:
For
patients with severe
cognitive impairment who are incapable of oral
self-care, implant
treatment under
general anesthesia showed a favorable
prognosis.