A Pilot Study of Preparedness of Dentists in the United Arab Emirates to Deal with Medical Emergencies

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the United Arab Emirates dentists' preparedness to manage medical emergencies. Materials and Methods Ninety-seven licensed dentists participated in this study. Dentists responded to self-administrated questionnaires that contained 23 questions divided into five parts. The first part collected data on participants' sex, years of experience, and whether they are general dental practitioner (GDP) or specialists. The second part included seven questions that asked participants to indicate if they took medical history, obtained vital signs, and attended basic life support courses. The third part included six multiple choice questions regarding the availability of emergency drugs in the dental clinic. The fourth part consisted of three multiple-choice questions that assessed the dentists' immediate response to a medical emergency. Finally, the fifth part comprised four questions to evaluate the dentists' knowledge of proper treatment of special emergency cases they may encounter in the dental offices. Results Out of the 97 participants, only 51% (N = 49) indicated that they can handle emergencies such as anaphylactic shock and syncope in the dental office. The majority of the dentists (80%) indicated that they have emergency kits. Only 46% of the specialists and 42% of the GDPs were able to correctly plan extractions in a patient with a prosthetic heart valve. Less than half of the participants (N = 35, 36%) were able to correctly answer the question regarding management of a foreign-body aspiration by attempting Heimlich/Triple maneuver. Conclusions Within the limitations of this study, dentists need further hands-on training to improve their skills and knowledge about medical emergencies that could occur in the dental settings. Furthermore, we recommend that guidelines should be available in the clinic to strengthen the dentists' ability to deal with medical emergencies.

Behavioural outcomes of children born with intrauterine growth restriction: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…An initial pilot phase will be conducted for the study team in order to get familiar with the software, answer questions and resolve any issues. Relevant study materials, such as the literature search strategy for each database, will be uploaded to the Open Science Framework (OSF) platform 43…”

“…Relevant study materials, such as the literature search strategy for each database, will be uploaded to the Open Science Framework (OSF) platform. 43 …”

“…Relevant study materials, such as the literature search strategy for each database, will be uploaded to the Open Science Framework (OSF) platform. 43 Selection process A screening procedure guideline for the title and abstract and, in a second separate step, for the full-text screening has been developed and tested by the study team according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies from the literature search will be independently screened by two authors for inclusion or exclusion while a third reviewer will be consulted for solving discrepancies.…”