The Knowledge and Awareness of Medical Emergencies and Management among Dental Students.

backgroundEvery dentist should anticipate being confronted with a medical emergency (ME), and one should always be ready to treat the most catastrophic ones.

aimThis study aimed to assess the knowledge of dental clinical students of Tamil Nadu in the ME understanding and management to create awareness toward patient care. METHODOLOGY: A total of 768 dental students, including final-year students and residents from different colleges, took part in the questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. The selection of study participants was by the convenience sampling method. The questionnaire contained thirty closed multiple-choice questions to assess their knowledge of MEs. Microsoft Office Excel software was used for compiling the answers. The descriptive analysis of the data is exhibited in graphs.

resultsThe majority of participants were mindful of the vital signs; only 55% of the participants know the importance of checking their respiration rate. The knowledge of identifying MEs such as anaphylaxis was 91%, and only 27%-37% of the respondents knew to identify angina, transient ischemia, and lidocaine toxicity. Approximately 15%-40% of the respondents only knew the management of angina, cardiac arrest, hyperventilation, respiratory obstruction, and seizure. Only 10% agreed that the best office emergency kit should be prepared by themselves. Roughly 78% of the respondents were conscious of the patient's referral whenever necessary and aware of state dental acts.

conclusionThis study reflects a significant need for training in executing ME among dental students who are to transmute into future dental professionals.