Knowledge and Confidence of a Convenience Sample of Australasian Emergency Doctors in Managing Dental Emergencies: Results of a Survey
Table 3
Participants who agreed/strongly agreed to being confident in specific skills according to receipt of formal education and participation in workshops and conferences.
Item/skill
Received formal education
Participated in a conference or workshop on dental emergencies
Yes
No
value†
Yes
No
value†
Diagnosing the cause of a toothache
134/186 72.0% 65.2–78.0
123/259 47.5% 41.5–53.6
<0.001
84/121 69.4% 60.7–77.0
174/325 53.5% 48.1–58.9
0.003
Pharmacological management of a toothache
175/185 94.6% 90.2–97.2
193/280 74.2% 63.3–47.9
<0.001
106/121 87.6% 80.4–92.5
264/325 81.2% 76.6–85.1
0.121
Performing local anesthetic block for toothache?*
81/149 54.4% 46.4–62.2
105/297 35.4% 30.1–41.0
<0.001
68/148 45.9% 38.1–54.0
53/299 17.7% 13.8–22.5
<0.001
Management of a dental abscess?
141/186 75.8% 69.2–81.4
159/280 61.2% 50.9–62.5
0.001
87/121 71.9% 63.3–79.2
215/326 66.0% 60.6–70.9
0.257
Recognizing a significant complication of a dental abscess (such as Ludwig’s angina)
158/185 85.4% 79.6–89.8
185/259 71.4% 65.6–76.6
0.001
106/121 87.6% 80.4–92.5
238/324 73.5% 68.4–78.0
0.001
Recognizing periodontal disease?*
56/119 47.9% 38.3–56.0
129/325 39.7% 34.5–45.1
0.192
50/118 42.4% 33.8–51.4
70/257 27.2% 22.2–33.0
<0.001
Management of postextraction bleeding?
128/186 68.8% 61.8–75.1
122/254 48.0% 42.0–54.2
<0.001
83/119 69.7% 61.0–77.3
169/323 52.3% 46.9–57.7
0.001
Assessment of dental trauma?*
129/220 58.6% 52.0–65.0
60/224 26.8% 21.4–33.0
<0.001
88/222 39.6% 33.4–46.2
33/223 14.8% 10.7–20.1
<0.001
Initial management of dental fractures?
118/185 63.8% 56.6–70.4
87/257 33.9% 28.3–39.8
<0.001
89/119 74.8% 66.3–81.8
116/324 35.8% 30.8–41.2
<0.001
Initial management of a partially dislodged tooth?
143/186 76.9% 70.3–82.4
115/256 44.9% 39.0–51.1
<0.001
99/121 81.8% 73.9–87.7
160/322 49.7% 44.3–55.1
<0.001
Initial management of a completely dislodged (avulsed) tooth?
123/234 52.6% 46.2–59.1
62/211 29.4% 23.6–35.9
<0.001
88/235 37.4% 31.5–43.8
33/211 15.6% 11.3–21.2
<0.001
Inferential analyses conducted using Fisher’s exact test. Negatively worded items reverse coded before collapsing.
