Dentists' Awareness about Management of Medical Emergencies in Dental Offices Birjand-2014

Most of medical emergencies which take place in dental offices could be life-threatening. In this regard, the knowledge about these medical emergencies is of great importance and all of the dental staff should have sufficient knowledge in diagnosing and the way to manage them. This study aims to evaluate knowledge of Birjand dentists in diagnosis and treatment of medical emergencies. A questionnaire was designed and its reliability and validity was standardized. The recorded data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, one-way ANOVA and Mann-Whitney through SPSS 16 software. From eighty six (86) dentists who answered the questionnaire, 74(86%) were general dentists and 12(14%) were dental specialists, 52(60.4 %) were male and 34(39.6%) were female. The mean age and work experiences in male dentists was significantly more than female (P<0.05), but there is no significant differences in terms of mean patient visits per day, hours of work per day and knowledge scores between male and female. The level of awareness of 39.5% of dentists was good, in 37.2% was average and in 23.3% was poor. The knowledge of dentists about diagnosis and management of dental emergencies was not satisfying. More attention should be paid during postgraduate and general courses. In addition, holding theoretical and practical educational courses about approaches to manage medical emergencies results enhances the knowledge of dentists.