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Local Anesthesia : 6 Common Myths & Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office

Course Details

Friday, September 13, 2024
8:30 – 4:00 pm
7 MCE credits

Speaker: John Goodchild, DMD

LOCAL ANESTHESIA:  6 Common Myths Explained to Make Your Local Anesthetic Techniques More Successful

Achieving profound and effective local anesthesia is essential in clinical practice. It is a limiting step in most procedures; meaning invasive procedures cannot commence until it is successfully achieved. Despite the frequency that oral health providers (ie, dentists and hygienists) use local anesthetics during clinical practice, misconceptions remain.

The goal of this presentation is to discuss several common ‘myths’ surrounding local anesthesia while incorporating literature-supported learning issues. Using a fun multimedia approach, this course will review and update local anesthetic techniques, equipment, and current research for all providers.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Discuss current local anesthetic market share in the U.S.

Review the basic pharmacology of local anesthetics

Discuss common ‘myths’ associated with local anesthesia including:

  • Allergy to epinephrine
  • pH and the impact on injection pain
  • Does needle size make a difference?
  • Does topical anesthesia actually decrease injection pain?
  • Buffering of local anesthetics
  • Which local anesthetics are safe during pregnancy and lactation?
  • What is the latest on local anesthetic-related paresthesias?

Review the latest armamentarium of local anesthetic delivery 9 Learn tips, tricks, and pearls to maximize local anesthetic success

MEDICAL EMERGENCIES IN THE DENTAL OFFICE: What ‘s in Your Emergency Kit and Why?

Preparing the Entire Dental Team to Manage Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office

Medical emergencies are defined as any condition that if left untreated may lead to patient morbidity or mortality. However, if your definition of an emergency is any condition of a patient that raises your blood pressure or pulse rate – then you need to take this course! Medical emergencies happen. Studies estimate that on average a practitioner will be faced with a medical emergency in the dental office twice every year! Some of these occurrences can be minor; some of these situations can be life-threatening. The good news for practitioners is that 75% of emergencies can be mitigated by good local anesthesia (pain control) and effective stress reduction. For those few instances when an appropriate response could be lifesaving, each practitioner must be prepared with a properly equipped emergency drug kit.

The purpose of the course is to emphasize patient safety and educate you on the seven essential drugs you should have in the medical emergency kit. Even though the right answer always includes dialing 9-1-1, you can start the chain of survival in your office!

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

  • Understand and recognize the most common medical emergencies in the dental office.
  • Learn how manage the most common medical emergencies in the dental office.
  • Learn what equipment and medications are needed to manage medical emergencies in the dental office
  • Be capable of preparing and using the seven essential drugs recommend for the minimal dental emergency kit.

Audience: Hygienists, Dentists, Dental Assistants

COURSE HANDOUTS

  • TBD