When and How Should Antibiotic Prophylaxis and General Anesthesia Be Used in Down Syndrome Patients Receiving Dental Treatment?

Objective: Dental treatment for Down's syndrome is often carried out under general anesthesia due to the difficulty of cooperation, excessive dental procedures, and accompanying systemic diseases. The risk of endocarditis can be avoided by maintaining good oral hygiene, preventing tooth decay and administering prophylactic antibiotics before some dental treatments. Material and Method: Down Syndrome patients underwent dental treatment under general anesthesia were evaluated retrospectively. General anesthesia method, demographic variables, ASA scores, Oral Hygiene Index, Frankl scale, Houpt Scale, systemic diseases of the patients, antibiotic prophylaxis and dental treatments were examined as data. Results: Female/male ratio was 62/51, mean age was 14.14±10.28. Most patients were ASA II with 67.3%. The oral hygiene index was poor (%38). While 84.81% of the patients were sedated, 15.2% were given general anesthesia. Tooth extraction with tooth filling was the most performed dental treatment. The most common systemic disease was of cardiac origin. Antibiotic prophylaxis was administered to 82 of the patients. Conclusion: To treat patients with Down Syndrome, frequent use of general anesthesia and sedation, as well as frequent antibiotic prophylaxis, is required. In terms of these applications, it is necessary to create a treatment plan with the least risk to the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]