Utilization of general anesthesia by general practitioners in Saskatchewan

A survey of Saskatchewan general practitioners was carried out to investigate the utilization of general anesthesia for the completion of dental procedures. Of the total number of general practitioners (234) surveyed, 61.5 per cent responded that they had done at least one general anesthesia case during their dental career. With respect to current utilization in the province, 38.4 per cent (90) of the respondents did at least five general anesthesia cases per year. Other variables investigated were: number of cases per year, types of patients treated and adequacy of dental school training. Age of practitioner, year of graduation and community population were found to be significant (p less than 0.001) variables in the utilization of general anesthesia by general practitioners in Saskatchewan.