Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 11, 35-40, Copyright © 1964 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Conditions Affecting General Anaesthesia in the Dental Office

¹ Vancouver General Hospital, Department of Anaesthesia, and Clinical Instructor, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

We feel that the following conclusions are valid

1 If the otherwise well-trained anaesthetist fails to go out from his cozy operating room and meet the challenge of office dentistry, the field is left by default to either the poorly trained physician, or the dentist who may be tempted to essay surgery and anaesthesia simultaneously. This we do not condone In either case, the patient is poorly served, and anaiesthesia slips back, not forward

2 If we, the well-trained people in our field, avoid contact with the oral surgeon and his needs in his office, who then is available to teach the proper and modern approach to the dental student in training, and indeed to the adolescent anaesthetist?

3 Anaesthesia for dental surgery entails an airway shared by surgeon and anaesthetist. This means endotracheal anaesthesia

4 Oral surgery can be accomplished safely and comfortably for all concerned under general anaesthesia in the proper office environment. This environment includes a surgeon who appreciates in full the anaesthetist's problems, an anaesthetist who is completely competent and enthusiastic, and equipment and office organization specially tailored to the task at hand

To insist on admitting these patients to hospital is not practical

To deny the comfort of general anaesthesia is unnecessarily cautious and indeed cruel