Hello everybody. Welcome to this webinar that myself, Dr. Don Cohen, and Dr. Stanley Malamed are producing for Dental Expo this year. Essentially, you saw the title. Here’s who we are. All the dentists in the audience should ask for a rebate from Dr. Malamed since you all had to buy his book. But let’s continue with this.
HealthFirst Sponsorship
HealthFirst is involved in this as a sponsor, and I’m an employee there as Chief Clinical Officer. Doctor Malamed acts as a consultant for us. This webinar is for the Dental Expo Global Symposium on April 12th.
Medical Emergencies in Dentistry
The basic premise is that unfortunately, medical emergencies can and do happen in the practice of dentistry. Back in 1993, I published a survey after surveying over 4000 dental doctors in North America (U.S. and Canada). They reported more than 30,000 medical emergencies, with fainting being the most common. 95% of them experienced at least one dental emergency in their career.
Frequency of Medical Emergencies
With an average career length of 14.7 years, dentists can expect seven medical emergencies during their career. Other articles have shown that if you practice full-time, you will encounter a medical emergency every 2 to 4 years.
Common Medical Emergencies Today
At Health First, we produce emergency medical kits and track medication refills. In our subscription to over 40,000 dental offices, the two most common events are diabetic (low blood sugar) events and asthma attacks. These two medications are replaced most frequently, indicating changes in common emergencies due to factors like obesity.
Medical Obligations During Emergencies
As licensed dental or medical doctors, our obligation is to keep patients alive until they either recover or someone more qualified assumes responsibility. Today, we will briefly discuss emergency drugs, equipment, and the basic management of medical emergencies.
Introduction to Emergency Drugs
We will now discuss the emergency drugs in a basic emergency kit. The kit contains eight essential drugs:
– Epinephrine
– Histamine blocker
– Bronchodilator
– Nitroglycerin
– Sugar
– Aspirin
– Naloxone
– Oxygen (though not in the kit, oxygen is essential).
Epinephrine
Epinephrine is primarily used for life-threatening anaphylactic reactions and bronchospasms (acute asthmatic attacks). It is the most important drug in emergency medicine, although we hope never to use it. The kit includes adult and pediatric doses.
Other Emergency Drugs
- Histamine Blocker: Used for non-life-threatening allergic reactions, primarily diphenhydrAMINE (Benadryl).
- Bronchodilator: Treats bronchospasm, typically Albuterol in a metered-dose inhaler.
- Vasodilator (Nitroglycerin): Used to treat chest pain (Angina) through a spray form called Nitrolingual spray.
- Sugar (Glucose Gel): Treats low blood sugar, a common emergency even in non-diabetic patients.
- Aspirin: Used in suspected heart attacks.
- Naloxone (Narcan): Reverses opioid overdoses through a nasal spray.
- Oxygen: Essential in every medical emergency.
Conclusion and Training
In conclusion, training is key. Emergency events may be rare, but preparation and practice are critical for proper management. Detailed demonstrations of all these drugs and treatments will be provided at our live presentation in Hollywood, Florida, in April.
