Evaluation of Awareness and Preparedness for Medical Emergencies among Dental Practitioners in Twin Cities of Punjab: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the awareness of medical emergencies among dental practitioners, to assess the degree of expertise and readiness of dental professionals to handle medical crises in their dental practices and to ascertain if medical emergency medications are offered in dental offices. METHODOLOGY: A prospective study including 208 practitioners were given access to the survey through Google Form, along with information on the study and a consent form .The questionnaire consisted of demographic details, years of experience, and specialty of practitioners and 20 closed-ended questions with 10 assessing knowledge and rest evaluating the competence and preparedness to handle medical emergencies. An emergency whether medical or dental is a serious, acute, and unexpected event that requires a quick and timely intervention. Since some diseases and their treatments increase the likelihood of a medical emergency during dental treatment. The most often encountered medical emergencies in a dental office are vasovagal syncope, angina pectoris, hypoglycemia, and hypertensive crisis. One of the mainstays of prevention of medical emergencies is by taking a thorough and detailed history, and vital signs monitoring and modifying the treatment plan. RESULTS: A response rate of 96% was achieved by including all 200 of the study’s 450 dental professionals. Just 69% of the participants had emergency kits on hand, even though roughly 77.5% of the dentists in the study felt confident in their ability to handle emergencies in the dental office. CONCLUSION: In this study, dental professionals demonstrated a moderate level of understanding in medical situations, and many of them have low to moderate perceived competency in managing medical emergencies. Every dental clinic should have well-communicated emergency protocols in place that should be updated periodically. KEYWORDS: Medical emergency, Dental Practitioner, Emergency kit, BLS, Dental Clinics