Abstract: Objective To compare the parental acceptance of dental treatment under general anesthesia and deep sedation in children and assess the changes in postoperative oral health-related quality of life and treatment efficacy. Methods The parents of 131 children undergoing dental treatment in the Department of Stomatology of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital from January, 2022 to June, 2022 were surveyed using a questionnaire of children's advanced oral behavior management, and 83 children receiving general anesthesia or deep sedation for dental treatment between January, 2018 and December, 2021 were also investigated for changes in quality of life after the treatment using a questionnaire. The treatment efficacy was assessed at the 1-year follow-up visit in 149 children who received dental treatment under general anesthesia or deep sedation during the same period. Results The survey of perantal acceptance showed that 62.6% of the parents preferred deep sedation, 29.01% preferred general anesthesia, and 8.4% preferred compulsory treatment. Dental treatments under general anesthesia and deep sedation both significantly improved oral health- related quality of life of the children. While dental surgeries under general anesthesia resulted in the most significant improvement of pain symptoms, deep sedation was associated with both obvious relief of the children's pain symptoms and reduction of the parents' pressure level. No significant difference was found in the efficacy of treatments under general anesthesia and deep sedation at the 1-year follow-up. Conclusion Dental treatment in children under deep sedation has the highest parental acceptance, followed by treatment under general anesthesia, and the acceptance of compulsory treatment is the lowest. The treatments under general anesthesia and deep sedation significantly improve the quality of life of the children and their parents and both have good treatment efficacy.

Key words: dental caries; general anesthesia; deep sedation; dental phobia