WASHINGTON -- There's no need to fear going to the dentist, although 35 million Americans avoid professional dental care for exactly that reason, a panel of federal experts said Wednesday.
The advisory group, convened by the National Institutes of Health, said dental care can be given under local anesthetic or sedation if need be and those who avoid simple professional tooth and gum maintenance are risking the possibility they will need more extensive work done later on.
'The message is you don't have to be frightened by dentistry,' said Dr. Daniel M. Laskin, panel chairman and professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Medical College of Virginia. 'It can be done painlessly or nearly painlessly.'
The panel, composed of dentists, anesthetists, a consumer advocate and a statistics expert, said 35 million Americans avoid routine care until forced into a dentist's chair by a toothache.
The group also addressed fears they said were raised by reports in the media that it is risky to submit to sedatives and general anesthetics in dentists' offices, pointing out that statistics show deaths due to anesthesia are extremely low.
Sedatives are used to relax a patient. Local anesthetics numb a small area, and general anesthesia produces unconsciousness. The decision about which to use is made by the dentist based on the individual case.
'I think that the problem of mortality in the dental office has been exaggerated,' Laskin said.
One study from Great Britain indicated a mortality rate of one patient per 250,000 anesthetic procedures from 1970 through 1979. Two less rigorous studies in the United States indicated the death rate was one per 350,000 to one per 860,000.
The panel, called specifically to discuss the use of dental anesthesia, did not review injuries or permanent damage caused by anesthesia because no good statistics were available, Laskin said.
To avoid any risk, patients should ask whether their dentists have been trained in administration of anesthesia and sedation. In some states, law requires dentists be certified as capable anesthetists.
