An evaluation of the behaviour of children undergoing dental extraction under general anaesthesia

The cooperation of a random sample of 190 children with an average age of 5 years (range 1-17 years), presenting with a dental emergency requiring tooth extraction under general anaesthesia, was evaluated using the Frankl Behaviour Scale. The results showed that 60% of the children cooperated in the operating theatre. Furthermore, removal of only one or two teeth per patient accounted for 40% of the cases. This survey has identified a group of child dental patients who might benefit from conscious sedation and local anaesthetic techniques.