Appropriateness of a Resuscitation Council (UK) advanced life support course for primary care dentists

Abstract

Objectives To investigate whether a standard Resuscitation Council (UK) ALS course is appropriate for primary care dentists or whether a course should be specifically designed for dentists. Design Opinions canvassed by pre-course expectation and post-course evaluation questionnaires. Subjects 23 West Pennine primary care dentists providing a general anaesthetic or conscious sedation service who attended an ALS course. Results Knowledge and skills were rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (not important at all) to 5 (extremely important). Basic airway management (mean = 5) and anaphylaxis (mean = 4.9) scored the highest on the 'expectation' questionnaire. Rhythm recognition (P < 0.001), defibrillation (P = 0.007) and arrest algorithms (P = 0.047) were rated as significantly more important after the course than before. Knowledge about rhythm disorder management, cardiac pacing, post-resuscitation care, blood gas interpretation and bereavement were not considered to be so important either before or after the course. Conclusions Despite rating some aspects as unimportant, all dentists stated that this course had been appropriate. They did not want a specially designed ALS course for dentistry. Taking exactly the same recognised course and assessments as other healthcare professionals and gaining the same certification was felt to be important to this group of dentists.

Practical skills training influences knowledge and attitude of dental students towards emergency medical care

“…A sample size of 40 appears to be not very high. Under the circumstance that in Germany 1 year of a class in dental school regularly consists of not more than 50 students, the participants of our study represent the majority of one academic year and, in addition, our results align with other studies from all over the world concerning cardiopulmonary resuscitation in dentistry (14, 15, 25–31).…”

Evaluation of knowledge, experience and perceptions about medical emergencies amongst dental graduates (Interns) of Belgaum City, India

“…Medical emergencies occur in dental practice more frequently (1). Fortunately, serious medical emergencies in dental practice are not common but they are all the more alarming when they occur (2). A thorough patient history can draw the practitioner’s attention to potential medical emergencies that could occur (1).…”

Measuring the Level of Medical-Emergency-Related Knowledge among Senior Dental Students and Clinical Trainers

“…In the first part of this questionnaire, participants were required to record their demographical information including age, gender, and nationality in addition to their years of experience. In the second part, participants were presented with 20 medical emergency cases that frequently take place in the dental chair [6] (Table 1). Participants were asked to indicate on a 3-point scale their level of agreement with proposed management for each emergency situation.…”

“…This identified 275 subjects who were eligible to take part in this study (210 students and 65 clinical trainers). The study instrument was a self-administered questionnaire that was developed using the textbook of Master Dentistry (Guidance on the management of common medical emergencies; Coulthard et al [ 6 ]). The questionnaire was presented in English.…”

“…Another study by de Bedout et al [ 5 ] underlined apparent confusion among dental residents and practicing periodontists in handling of several medical emergency cases and varying degrees of incorrect diagnoses. It was also concluded that further training about case specific features is needed for the Indiana dental faculty members and residents [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. In a survey among Saudi dental students and interns, the authors concluded that the availability of medications and basic emergency equipment in the dental settings coupled with well-trained dental staff on the management of basic life support have a major role in the reduction in mortality risk related to medical emergencies in the dental chair [ 3 ].…”