Ayesha Aslam, Zehra Iqtidar, Bushra Rehman, Afsheen Ali.
Patient Safety Incidents In Prosthodontics.
Pak Oral Dental J Jan ;37(1):183-7.

Patient safety can be defined as “the reduction of the risk of unnecessary harm associated with healthcare to an acceptable minimum”. In contrast to medical healthcare, dentistry has somewhat lagged behind in developing and implementing advanced patient safety protocols. While developed countries have inculcated patient safety in their undergraduate and postgraduate dental curriculum, developing countries like ours still need to identify common preventable problems, record the frequency of such events and devise means to eliminate such incidents. This study aimed to report commonly encountered patient safety incidents in prosthodontics and their possible solutions. A cross – sectional descriptive study using a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the most common site of accidental injury during routine prosthodontic treatment, sources of injuries, commonly encountered medical emergencies, frequency of wrong site surgery and recommended measures to minimize patient safety incidents. Questionnaires were then distributed to 72 consultant and resident prosthodontists in eleven dental institutes in Punjab and KPK. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Majority (65%) of the prosthodontists agreed that dental patient safety incidents are often encountered in their routine practice but are never officially reported. Gingiva was the most frequent site of accidental injury while burs were the common source of injury. Vasovagal syncope was the frequently encountered medical emergency (52%) while frequency of wrong site surgery was low (16%). Introduction of patient safety modules in curriculum, use of safety checklist, official reporting of patient safety incidents and continuing dental education programs on patient safety were the solutions favored by prosthodontists to minimize such incidents.

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