Medical emergencies in dental practice - management requirements and international practitioner proficiency. A scoping review

M Vaughan; A Park; A Sholapurkar; A Esterman

doi:10.1111/adj.12649

Medical emergencies in dental practice - management requirements and international practitioner proficiency. A scoping review

Aust Dent J. 2018 Dec;63(4):455-466. doi: 10.1111/adj.12649. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

Authors

M Vaughan¹, A Park¹, A Sholapurkar¹, A Esterman^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Dentistry, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, Australia.
² School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
³ Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, Australia.

PMID: 30169909
DOI: 10.1111/adj.12649

Abstract

The management of medical emergencies is widely considered a requisite skill for all dentists. Timely intervention of an emergency can significantly alter the outcome for a patient's morbidity and possible mortality. This scoping review examines the prevalence of medical emergencies in dental practice, as well as dentists' attitude, confidence, and competence, of medical emergency management within a dental setting. Key findings include a lack of preparedness towards medical emergencies, despite a universal recognition of the importance and desire to improve key medical skills.

Keywords: Attitude; competence; confidence; dentist; emergencies; medical management.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Attitude of Health Personnel*
Clinical Competence
Dentists* / education
Dentists* / psychology
Emergencies*
General Practice, Dental* / standards
General Practice, Dental* / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Practice Management, Dental / standards
Prevalence