The effects general anesthesia has on your brain. - Tooronga Family Dentistry in Glen Iris

In the last journal of the Independent an article was published about the effects, drugs used for general anesthesia, have on the brain. It has been stressed that”exposing a child to anaesthesia can put them at higher risk of neurodevelopmental problems and changes in brain structure. According to a review published in the journal Pediatrics, children under 4 years old who received general anaesthesia scored “significantly lower in listening comprehension and performance IQ” when tested. Another study from 2012 also found that young children exposed to anaesthetics were twice as likely to develop learning disabilities before the age of 10.”

But the effects the general anesthetics have on the brain are not limited to children, researchers have found that patients who are 65 years and over can take up to six months to recover from the effects of the anaesthesia. Furthermore the anesthesia leads to an increase in the chances elderly patients have of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease due to the inflammation of brain tissues that anesthetic drugs cause.

It is important to consider the risks involved with general anesthesia when choosing among the various options for dental treatment under sedation. While nitrous oxide sedation is the ” safest of all the modalities available for sedation in dentistry.” , there are long lasting effects for the treatment under general anesthesia.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Kaufman or to call today Tooronga Family Dentistry, phone number 98227006, for more information about dental treatment under sedation or to have a consultation to see which kind of dental sedation is right for you.