Introduction:

No dental surgeon is free from coping with medical emergencies during their professional practice, a reason why many authors support the fact of establishing a protocol for the care of such events and preparing the dental care personnel.

Objective:

To identify the dental surgeons’ level of knowledge about medical emergencies during dental care.

Methods:

A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2019 to January 2020. It was applied in twelve dental clinics in Havana. The final sample was made up of 166 dental surgeons. The assessment instrument was a survey with 22 closed questions about emergency diagnosis and treatment, validated prior to its application. The results were classified in three levels: good, fair and bad. The variables taken into account were gender, time of graduation, existence of a care protocol in the services, need for a protocol, self-perception of their degree of preparation, level of knowledge about medical emergencies, and way for obtaining the preparation.

Results:

The female sex was the most represented in the study, accounting for 68%, as well as dental surgeons with 10-15 years of graduate experience. A fair level of knowledge prevailed for 50.6%, while 88.5% considered it important to have a care protocol.

Conclusions:

The level of knowledge about the most frequent medical emergencies during the professional practice of the respondents was classified as fair. The study population does not have a protocol serving as a guide to provide first care to these patients. It is necessary to increase undergraduate and graduate preparation with respect to this health concern.

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