What emergency equipment is required in a dentist office

When dealing with dentistry, you want to be sure that you are fully prepared for whatever comes your way. Especially if you are certified for sedation dental care. Any time that you are administering medication or drugs to patients, you need to pay particularly close attention to them. 

Sedation dental care is safe, but with any type of medication or procedure, there are always risks. The biggest prevention for sedation injuries is to be sure you are well trained on how to administer the medication. This can eliminate many issues your patient may face. 

Regardless of whether you are certified in sedation dental care or not, as a dentist, there are many different types of emergency equipment that you should have available to you in case an emergency arises. While each state typically has its own guidelines and requirements, this equipment should be in every dentist’s office. 

Medications

There are a certain amount of medications and drugs that are essential to the emergency kit that you have at your practice. At a minimum, your kit should contain:

• Epinephrine - this is used to treat life threatening allergic reactions. This would be beneficial if your patient has a latex or medication allergy that they do not know about. 

• Histamine-blocker - this is typically used to cut down on the amount of acid created by the stomach, which could be caused by medications or the toothpaste used

• Oxygen - this would be needed if a patient has an asthma attack, goes into anaphylaxis, has an epileptic fit or need cardiopulmonary resuscitation 

• Nitroglycerin - a medication that is used to open blood vessels to improve blood flow could be handy for a dentist to use in an emergency situation

• Bronchodilator - this works like an asthma inhaler to widen the bronchi

• Sugar - If a patient drops in glucose, having something like orange juice handy can help bring that back up quickly

Other items

The drugs and medications that you have on hand are important to ensure that you can provide life-saving measures if something were to go wrong. Though you have all of these medications, you will also want a few other things to ensure that you can properly monitor and administer. These things include:

• Blood pressure monitoring equipment

• Pulse Oximetry

• Ambu bag and ability to administer 100% Oxygen

• Oral Airways

• CPR pocket mask

• Syringes

• Tourniquets

• High-volume suction

Get certified

As a dentist, your patients are putting their health in your hands, especially when they are being sedated. Following your state’s sedation certification requirements is the best way to ensure that you are providing the best care for your patients. You can take courses based on your state to get certified and gain all the knowledge you need to make your patients feel comfortable and safe. 

At Midwest Sedation Consultants, we offer certification and recertification courses for minimal sedation dentistry in Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Our courses are all online and easy to complete at your convenience. If you have questions or need help signing up for your certification courses, contact us today!