Resumo

CAPUTO, Isamara Geandra Cavalcanti; BAZZO, Glauco José; SILVA, Ricardo Henrique Alves da  e  DARUGE JUNIOR, Eduardo. Lives at risk: medical emergencies in the dental office. Rev. cir. traumatol. buco-maxilo-fac. [online]. 2010, vol.10, n.3, pp. 051-058. ISSN 1808-5210.

Dental surgeons, in their professional practice, constantly face the risk of being exposed to events described as medical emergencies. Despite not being common, these can happen in the dental office, affecting any individual, before, during or after the dental intervention. Apart from the clinical condition of the patients, the professional also has to deal with the legal implications arising from such emergencies. In this context, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the number of occurrences of medical emergencies in dental offices, the degree of preparedness of dental surgeons in medical emergencies in their work environment and the extent of their knowledge of the relevant legislation. The data was collected in the city of Ribeirão Preto - SP, following the signing of a free and informed consent document, by means of a questionnaire, with open and structured questions, delivered to 200 professionals and collected a week later. It is concluded that there is a certain insecurity on the part of the professionals in carrying out the required first aid procedure and an insufficient knowledge of the ethical and legal implications that they face.

Palavras-chave : Emergencies; professional ethics; professional; deontology; dentistry.