Managing dental emergencies: A descriptive study of the effects of a multimodal educational intervention for primary care providers at six months

Tony Skapetis,Wendy Hu,Tania Gerzina

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-12-103

Abstract

BackgroundClinicians providing primary emergency medical care often receive little training in the management of dental emergencies. A multimodal educational intervention was designed to address this lack of training. Sustained competency in managing dental emergencies and thus the confidence to provide this care well after an educational intervention is of particular importance for remote and rural healthcare providers where access to professional development training may be lacking.MethodsA descriptive study design with a survey instrument was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention for primary care clinicians. The survey was offered immediately before and at six months following the intervention. A Wilcoxon signed rank test was performed on pre and six month post-workshop matched pair responses, measuring self-reported proficiency in managing dental emergencies. The level of significance was set at p < 0.001. Confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for participants who scored an improved proficiency.ResultsThe educational intervention was associated with a significant and sustained increase in proficiency and confidence to treat, especially in oral local anaesthesia, management of avulsed teeth and dental trauma, as reported by clinicians at six months after the education. This was associated with a greater number of cases where dental local anaesthesia was utilised by the participants. Comments from participants before the intervention, noted the lack of dental topics in professional training.ConclusionsThe sustained effects of a brief multimodal educational intervention in managing dental emergencies on practice confidence and proficiency demonstrates its value as an educational model that could be applied to other settings and health professional groups providing emergency primary care, particularly in rural and remote settings.

Highlights

Clinicians providing primary emergency medical care often receive little training in the management of dental emergencies
The purpose of this study was to test whether a well designed interactive and multimodal educational intervention on the management of dental emergencies would have a sustained effect on self-reported proficiency, and on the number of such cases treated by primary care providers over a six month period
There was no significant association observed between practice location and the type of dental emergencies treated

Summary

Introduction

Clinicians providing primary emergency medical care often receive little training in the management of dental emergencies. Sustained competency in managing dental emergencies and the confidence to provide this care well after an educational intervention is of particular importance for remote and rural healthcare providers where access to professional development training may be lacking. Oral/dental complaints made up 0.3% of all consultations across 30 general medical practices [5]. Often such dental emergencies require simple but specific management to prevent complex post-emergency sequelae for the patient. These sequelae can include prolonged discomfort, premature tooth loss, or need for major restorative care to restore oral function. Targeted medical education can be effective in changing physician performance when utilising multiple media and instructional techniques [7]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion