Media Release
Dubai, Dec 8: Thumbay Hospital, the ultra-modern academic hospital owned and operated by Thumbay Group recently carried out a complicated dental surgery on a 3 year old girl. The surgery, performed under general anesthesia, was a complex 3 hour process involving multiple dental procedures.
The child had visited the dental hospital at Thumbay Hospital, with the main complaint of multiple cavities in the mouth and pain while eating her food. She had developed recurrent swellings on the gums since a year. Her parents complained that the child’s teeth had started decaying as soon as they erupted at the age of 6 months. According to them, the child had been unable to eat anything ever since, due to pain in the teeth.
The child was seen by the hospital’s specialized pediatric dentist, Dr Anukriti Pathak and was diagnosed ‘severe early childhood caries’, rampant in nature. She had cavities in 18 out of the 20 milk teeth she had. Five of them were completely damaged, with only the root remaining in the gums. Some teeth had undergone complete pulpal necrosis and others were deep dental caries. Being young in age, the patient did not cooperate for examination, let alone treatment. Hence, it was decided to treat all the teeth of the child under general anesthesia.
Initial tests were run and when the child was considered fit by the hospital’s pre anesthetic checkup unit (PACU), the child was taken for surgery under general anesthesia on November 25. The team of doctors comprised of specialized pediatric dentist Dr Anukriti Pathak, GP dentist Dr Elham Saeed, anesthetist Dr Manjusha Sukumara Menon and Dr Pavan Tayde.
Full mouth rehabilitation was performed successfully in a 3-hour procedure under general anesthesia. Pulp therapy was performed for 4 teeth, glass ionomer fillings for 5 teeth, composite fillings for 4 teeth and 5 teeth were extracted. A total of 18 teeth were treated. The child recovered completely from anesthesia within an hour of the procedure.
Early childhood caries: causes and treatment
Early childhood caries is a common dental disease found in children, starting as early as the time when the teeth start erupting, at 6 months of age. By the age of 2- 3 years, the decay becomes so severe that the child is unable to eat due to pain in the teeth. The most common cause is bottle feeding at will and at night. Improper or no brushing in children also leads to early childhood caries. Junk food and sugary drinks and food causes rampant caries.
“Early childhood caries is a common problem among kids, but most parents are unaware that this can be treated successfully at well-equipped dental hospitals, under experienced pediatric dentists,” said Dr Sameer Kumar, assistant administrative director of Thumbay Dental Hospital, Dubai. “At the dental hospital of Thumbay Hospital – Dubai, very young children or individuals who are scared of dental treatment can be successfully treated in a single appointment under general anesthesia,” he added.
Thumbay Hospital is located next to Stadium Metro Station, Al Qusais. A unique feature of the hospital is the 25-chair dental hospital, a full-fledged multi-specialty centre with world-class, ultra-modern facilities providing quality dental care at affordable costs.