2022 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 52-65
An online survey was conducted among dental societies and rural and urban dental clinics in Japan to clarify the status and actual conditions of the in-hospital emergency response system for medical emergencies in dental offices in Japan. The numbers of dental societies and dental offices that responded to the survey were 392 (51.2% response rate) and 392 (25.5% response rate), respectively. Overall, 48.5% of the dental societies had distributed emergency drugs to their members, and 74.5% of the dental offices had emergency medical drugs available. Adrenaline, atropine, and nitroglycerin were the most common drugs distributed by the dental societies and available in dental offices. Among the dental offices surveyed, 5.6% had experience in administering emergency medical drugs. The deployment rates of medical oxygen, biometric monitoring, and AEDs were 82.7%, 66.3%, and 71.5%, respectively. The percentages of dental societies that held training workshops on emergency drug administration and emergency response/resuscitation was 75.8% and 68.9%, respectively. From a medical and ethical standpoint, it is important to have medical emergency drugs and equipment in dental offices and to maintain training to prevent serious life-threatening medical complications and enable an appropriate response when they do occur. Future issues include the selection of emergency medical drugs that can be practically used by dentists and the enhancement of pre- and post-graduate education regarding their use during medical emergencies.
