To examine patient safety as it relates to anesthesia, 100 doctors representing a variety of dental and anesthesia specialties gathered at the first Anesthesia Patient Safety Conference in April in Rosemont, Ill, sponsored by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS).
A dozen doctors led discussions on patient safety topics such as anesthesia education, identification of at-risk patients before surgery, techniques for anesthesia administration and monitoring, emergency preparedness, and the importance of simulation training for staff.
“Our primary concern is the safety of the patient,” said AAOMS president Douglas W. Fain, DDS, MD. “AAOMS believes the ability to provide dental sedation in an ambulatory or office setting is both a privilege and a profound responsibility.”
AAOMS works to ensure practitioners who administer sedation in their offices are trained to administer the anesthesia and are committed to ongoing continuing education to ensure they are aware of the latest equipment, drugs, and techniques, Fain said.
Practitioners need to be knowledgeable, he said, about the importance of the physical evaluation and the relationship between patient health and the type, level, and dosage of anesthetic each patient receives.
“And equally as important, practitioners need to be equipped with the appropriate monitoring and rescue equipment that assisting staff knows how and when to use,” Fain said.
In addition to AAOMS members, representatives of state dental boards and other professional dental and medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the ADA, and the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology attended the conference.
AAOMS’s commitment to anesthesia patient safety is evident through a variety of initiatives, Fain said, including:
- A comprehensive office anesthesia evaluation program that includes a renewal requirement every 5 years to retain active membership status in AAOMS and state oral and maxillofacial surgery societies;
- A national simulation program to practice and master critical techniques for administering and monitoring office-based anesthesia;
- Continuing education programs for oral and maxillofacial surgeons and their staff, including clinical-based courses at the AAOMS Annual Meeting and almost 20 online anesthesia courses;
- Regular updates of the AAOMS Parameters of Care book to reflect clinical practice guidelines and the standards for treating patients receiving office-based anesthesia, including the equipment and monitoring procedures;
- The Dental Anesthesia Assistants National Certification Examination, which ensures oral and maxillofacial surgery assistants are trained on the latest equipment and knowledgeable about new operatory procedures and techniques;
- Requiring members to obtain and maintain certification in Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (for those surgeons who treat pediatric patients).
“Through decades of experience, oral and maxillofacial surgeons have demonstrated the oral and maxillofacial surgery anesthesia model has provided safe, dependable, and high-quality specialty dental care,” said Fain.
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