Braces and anaesthesia

[angelina]

Has anyone had anaesthesia with a full mouth of braces. I'm due for surgery next week and one of the risks listed is dental damage. It mentions to have a checkup and fix any issues to reduce your risk (I would imagine for weak/damaged teeth). I mentioned it at my pre-admin appointment and they keep mentioning it 'should' be fine.

Have many of you had surgery/anaesthesia with braces and woken up fine? Woken up with broken brackets?

[djspeece]

Braces are not a barrier to anesthesia -- the warning about dental damage on the consent form is just to cover the doctor or nurse anesthetist in the unlikely event that an emergency intubation -- the procedure that enables a tube to be inserted into your lungs -- might inadvertently chip a tooth or something. I think if you search on terms such as "anesthesia" here you'll find posts of members who have had general anesthesia without a problem. Make sure you let the anesthesiologist know if you have any other sort of appliance in your mouth though. Best of luck to you!

[angelina]

Thanks Dan! That's very reassuring

[jaime]

Almost all of us in the oral surgery forum have had jaw surgery with braces, which requires general anesthesia of course. I personally had no issues at all.

[sirwired]

Braces are not a barrier to anesthesia -- the warning about dental damage on the consent form is just to cover the doctor or nurse anesthetist in the unlikely event that an emergency intubation -- the procedure that enables a tube to be inserted into your lungs -- might inadvertently chip a tooth or something. I think if you search on terms such as "anesthesia" here you'll find posts of members who have had general anesthesia without a problem. Make sure you let the anesthesiologist know if you have any other sort of appliance in your mouth though. Best of luck to you!

While emergency intubation is obviously riskier, even non-emergency oral intubation can damage teeth if done roughly or carelessly. There's no getting around the fact that oral intubation requires sticking a huge piece of metal in your oral cavity.

Almost all of us in the oral surgery forum have had jaw surgery with braces, which requires general anesthesia of course. I personally had no issues at all.

Well, oral surgery uses nasal intubation, so the dental risks obviously are not as large.

[Kittykat]

Um... Not quite sirwired. Both oral and nasal intubation use a metal laryngoscope in the mouth to visualise the vocal cords- so risk for dental damage is the same. (Doesn't matter if the tube goes orally or nasally as its soft plastic.)

[angelina]

I mentioned it to the anaesthetist and he noted it on my form so *fingers crossed* they pick up pretty quickly that I have braces and don't get too rough. thansk for the replies

[angelina]

Update: I woke up from the anaesthesia around lunch time today (it's now 5.30 pm) and my teeth and brackets are absolutely fine

[djspeece]

Congratulations and best wishes for a quick recovery!

[ruca2]

Glad everything went well. I'm an anesthetist and as mentioned there is always a risk of damage to teeth/oral mucosa when general anesthesia is required. The risks vary greatly depending upon each patient and procedure. If we are intubating you there is obviously a higher risk but not enough to deter you from having the surgery. If you've ever been labeled a "difficult intubation" or as having an anterior larynx then the risk is slightly higher. There are other options besides using a laryngoscope blade in the mouth as mentioned in an earlier reply. We can use a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope which may reduce the risk. Overall, surgery and anesthesia with braces doesn't make it any harder for us. It just takes more attention to detail on the part of the anesthetist. Good luck with your journey.