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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify prenatal, maternal, and early childhood factors associated with surgery to treat severe-early-childhood-caries (S-ECC) using general anesthesia (GA). Methods: A case-control study using administrative health care and social services data examined factors associated with surgery under GA. Subjects included children <72 months old undergoing GA for caries between fiscal years 2005/06 and 2010/11. Controls were children of the same age randomly chosen from the general population. Prenatal, birth, child, and maternal and family characteristics and use of health services were considered. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95 percent confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using logistic regressions. Results: There were 16,015 cases reviewed. Variables with a higher likelihood of surgery included: child's age (1.02 (OR), 1.02 to 1.02 (95% CI)); large-for-gestational-age (1.24, 1.19 to 1.30); young maternal age at birth (1.47, 1.04 to 2.07); lower income quintiles (3.24, 3.04 to 3.45); receiving income assistance (1.61, 1.54 to 1.69); more hospital visits (1.17, 1.15 to 1.18); and a history of being "in care/foster care" (1.11, 1.04 to 1.19). Variables with less likelihood of surgery included: initiating breastfeeding before discharge (0.69, 0.67 to 0.72); low five-minute Apgar score (0.88, 0.79 to 0.97); being female (0.96, 0.93 to 0.99); mothers ≥ 30 years old at birth (0.86, 0.82 to 0.89); urban dwellers (0.47, 0.45 to 0.49); and higher physician visits (0.995, 0.99 to 1.00). Conclusion: Understanding risk factors associated with surgery for S-ECC may provide clues about promising prenatal and early childhood oral health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]