Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office

Course Outline

1.    Incidence of emergency situations in a dental office

2.    Time of occurrence of reported systemic complications

3.    Type of dental treatment during occurrence of complications

4.     Types of emergencies

altered consciousness (vasodepressor syncope, hypoglycemia)
convulsions (generalized tonic-clonic seizures)
respiratory distress (bronchospasm)
drug-related emergencies (allergy, local anesthetic overdose)
chest pain (angina pectoris, myocardial infarction)

5.     Preparation for medical emergencies

basic life support
in-office emergency response team
access to emergency medical services
emergency drugs and equipment

6.     Management of emergency situations

recognition
position
airway
breathing
circulation
definitive care

7.     Types of Emergencies

    Altered consciousness

    vasodepressor syncope
    hypoglycemia

    Convulsions

    generalized tonicclonic seizures

    Respiratory distress

    bronchospasm

    Drug-related emergencies

    allergy, non-life-threatening
    allergy, life-threatening
    local anesthetic overdose

8.     Allergy

preparation for medical emergencies
delayed reaction; localized and systemic
common allergens in dentistry
management of delayed onset, systemic allergic skin reaction
immediate reaction, systemic (anaphylaxis)
management of immediate onset systemic reactions

9.     Chest pain

noncardiac vs. cardiac chest pain
angina pectoris vs. myocardial infarction
etiology of acute anginal episodes
management of angina pectoris
management of first episode of chest pain
management of myocardial infarction

10.    References

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you’ll be able to:

  1. Identify major causes of emergencies in a dental office.
  2. Describe 4 steps needed to prepare the dental office and staff to handle emergencies.
  3. List 11 items that an emergency kit must contain at the minimum.
  4. :List 6 essential steps in the management of emergency situations.
  5. List dental treatments with their corresponding likelihood of causing complications.
  6. Describe the symptoms, management, likely outcome, drugs required and dental care in the following types of emergencies
vasodepressor syncope
hypoglycemia
generalized tonic-clonic seizures
bronchospasm
allergy (life-threatening and non-life-threatening)
local anesthetic overdose
angina pectoris
myocardial infarction
  1. Describe the responsibilities of the 3 -man in-office emergency team.
  2. List at least 16 common allergens encountered in dentistry.
  3. List 9 common etiologies of acute angina.
  4. List dosages of injectable emergency drugs for adult, child and infant patients.
  5. Describe the management of delayed and immediate onset localized and systemic allergic skin reactions.
  6. Distinguish between noncardiac and cardiac chest pain.
  7. Differentiate between angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.
  8. Describe the signs and symptoms of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.
  9. Explain the importance of timely intervention with defibrillation.

To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.