Audio Recording

Managing Medical Emergencies In The Dental Office
Matthew Dennis, DDS


Dentists are frequently challenged by medically compromised patients who present for treatment. Not only is it difficult to keep up with the medical knowledge necessary to understand the status of your patients, it is sometimes difficult to decide which medical issues are important to your dental care. Since the medical status of the patient is an indicator of possible medical emergencies that could occur in the dental office, we will break down medical-history taking into a practical and simple process. The primary goal is to predict, and therefore to prevent emergencies from occurring. We will discuss some common emergency situations that can occur in the dental office, as well as emergency preparedness. We will suggest practical ways you and your office staff can remain in a constant state of readiness. Since team function is an important aspect of emergency care, this presentation will be appropriate for the entire dental team.

Learning objectives:
Participants will be able to:

• Define medical risk assessment and learn its relevance to the dental patient.
• Understand the stress reaction and how it affects dental patients.
• Learn how to identify red flags in the health history and determine whether it is safe to perform the planned procedure.
• Identify a number of medical emergencies which occur in the dental office and learn how to treat them.
• Learn how to create your own emergency protocols for managing medical emergencies.
• Review the drugs and equipment you should have in the dental office.