Medical Emergencies Occurrence in Dental Settings and Dentist's Self-Perceived Need for Practical Training

Medical emergencies can frequently happen in dental settings and inability to cope with them can lead to tragic outcomes. The of aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of medical emergencies in dental settings in Babol, Iran and dentists’ self-perceived need for practical training in this field. A descriptive-ana-lytical study was performed by using a questionnaire containing questions about the frequency of medical emergencies during the previous year and dentists’ self-perceived need for training to manage these cases. Data were analyzed by SPSS 18.0. Chi-square and t–test were used to evaluate the correlation between the variables. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. One hundred and twelve (84%) dentists answered the questionnaire. Collectively, 19 emergency cases were experienced by 17 dentists during the last year. The most prevalent emergency was vasovagal syncope(47%) and the least was anaphylactic shock(10%). One hundred and two dentists felt the need for practical training in medical emergencies. The need was perceived more by women, general dentists and those with more than 10 years occupation. But the correlation between sex, degree of education and duration of occupation and self-perceived need for training was not significant (p>0.05). Vasovagal syncope was the most prevalent emergency in dental settings. Most of the respondents were in favor of continuous education regarding the practical training in management of medical emergency.