Simulation training for medical emergencies in the dental setting using an inexpensive software application

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Medical Simulation
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Dental providers require education on medical emergencies for safe patient care.
• Current simulation training methods (manikins, robot patients) are costly.
• An inexpensive software-based simulation course was developed for medical emergency training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the educational effectiveness of a newly developed, inexpensive simulation training course for medical emergencies in dentistry.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-one dental providers participated in a scenario-based simulation training using medical software.
• Participants' diagnostic and treatment abilities for vasovagal syncope and anaphylaxis were assessed before and after training.
• Evaluation sheets and questionnaires were used to measure changes in skills and confidence.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in median scores for diagnosing and treating vasovagal syncope (7/9 to 9/9) and anaphylaxis (8/12 to 12/12) were observed.
• Participant confidence in treating vasovagal syncope increased from 14% to 56% and for anaphylaxis from 6% to 42% post-training.
• The software-based simulation demonstrated significant educational effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• The simulation course effectively enhanced dental providers' ability to diagnose and manage medical emergencies.
• The training also significantly improved participants' confidence in handling these emergencies.
• This cost-effective simulation course offers a viable solution for medical emergency preparedness in dental settings.