SynthesisBMC oral health2025
Effects of dental treatment under general anesthesia on the oral health quality of life and dental fear of preschool children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC oral health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Intranasal dexmedetomidine versus midazolam for pediatric dental sedation: a pooled analysis of clinical trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Bidirectional influences and clinical implications of psychological factors and oral health during orthodontic treatment.The Saudi dental journal · 2026Review
- Comparative evaluation of the sedative efficacy of oral midazolam (0.5 mg/kg vs. 0.75 mg/kg) with papoose board restraint for managing severe dental anxiety in paediatric patients: a retrospective cohort study.BMC anesthesiology · 2026Article
- Association of parental oral health literacy, early childhood oral health behaviors, and caries severity with oral health-related quality of life among preschool children.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Evaluation of individualized management of children with ECC after treatment under dental general anesthesia via a virtual dental home intervention: a quasi-experimental study.Frontiers in oral health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesIn this review, we aimed to determine the effects of dental treatment under general anesthesia on the oral health-related quality of life and dental fear of preschool children. MATERIALS AND
methodsA comprehensive electronic search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library was conducted up to July 20, 2023 (updated on April 10, 2024). A manual search and evaluation of the gray literature were also performed. Clinical trials utilizing a before-and-after design to evaluate the effects of dental treatment under general anesthesia (DGA) on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and dental fear in preschool-aged children were included in this research. To assess study quality, tools specifically designed for "before-after studies without control groups" were employed to determine potential biases. Two independent investigators conducted separate evaluations of the studies' quality assessment processes. A meta-analysis was conducted via the random effects model.
resultsIn the final analysis, 13 studies employing a pre-post design were included. The meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant difference in Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) scores between the pre-evaluation group (n = 1365) and the post-evaluation group (n = 1344) (mean difference [MD] = 9.61, 95% CI: 6.28-12.93; P < 0.00001). However, there was no significant difference in the mean Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) score between the pre-evaluation group (n = 536) and the post-evaluation group (n = 531) (MD = 5.53, 95% CI: -16.48-27.54; P = 0.62).
conclusionsThis study confirmed that children who received dental treatment with general anesthesia experienced improvements in their oral health-related quality of life. However, there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that dental treatment with general anesthesia can effectively alleviate dental fear in children. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dental treatment with general anesthesia significantly improved the OHRQoL of children. However, methods to improve dental fear in children during this procedure remain to be explored.
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