[ level of access to medicine and ancillary equipments needed for emergency cases in dental private offices in four southeast cities in Iran [2007-2008]]

ABSTRACT

It is not possible to avoid the occurrence of emergency accidents in private dental offices. In order to manage the emergency accidents, scientific and practical knowledge is necessary. The present study aimed to assess the presence of both medicine and ancillary equipments in dentists' emergency kit of private dental offices in four southeast cities in Iran. In this descriptive study, all dentists working in their private dental offices were invited to help with this survey in four southeast cities in Iran [2007-2008]. Data collection method included interview with the dentists, observing emergency kit and filling in the checklist by trained experts. Data were analyzed using parametric [t-test] and non-parametric [chi-square and Fisher's Exact] tests. Among the 126 dentists, 117 dentists accepted to help with the survey [Response rate=92.9%]. Mean age of respondents was 36 +/- 7.6 years. Mean duration of respondents working in their private offices was 6.6 +/- 6.9 years. 53% of respondents had participated in emergency medicine courses and only 39.3% had the emergency medical kit in their private offices. Unfortunately, all of the kits were incomplete. Mean age of dentists shows that they would work in their private dental offices for a long time. On the other hand, our results showed that a majority of private dental offices in our study did not have emergency kits or existed emergency kits were incomplete. These results confirm the need for planning and managing emergency medicine courses both for dentists and students in dental schools