General dentists' awareness of how to cope with medical emergencies in paediatric dental patients.

Background: General dentists (GDs) should be aware of the symptoms, signs, diagnoses and treatment of medical emergencies in paediatric patients.

Aim: To evaluate the knowledge of GDs in coping with medical emergencies, and to identify whether they are confident to diagnose and treat medical emergencies in paediatric patients.

Design: The questionnaire was conducted immediately before the beginning of national dental meetings and continuing education seminars in Croatia, attended by the GDs, in order to obtain a representative sample.

Results: Of a total of 498 GDs who returned the questionnaire with valid data, 51.2% reported that a medical history was regularly taken. A high proportion (81.3%) of the GDs had never received any basic life support (BLS) training and education for paediatric patients during their undergraduate studies. After graduation, this value rose to 86.1% of GDs. However, more than two-thirds (68.7%) had experienced some emergency situation in their practice. The most frequent emergency was vasovagal syncope (83.6%) and the most rare was cardiac arrest (8.2%). One-fifth (20.5%) of GDs experienced some emergency but could not make a diagnosis. The more BLS training undergone by a GD, the more self-confident s/he felt in an emergency situation.

Conclusions: Most GDs have a lack of knowledge to cope with medical emergencies in paediatric patients, and do not feel confident to diagnose and treat emergency situations in children. It is suggested that adequate training and education should be provided for all GDs to address this shortcoming.