A questionnaire survey of dentists regarding knowledge and perceived competence in resuscitation and occurrence of resuscitation emergencies.

Little information has been published on the knowledge and perceived competence of dentists in resuscitation or the occurrence of resuscitation emergencies in dental practice. Further, no such surveys have been done in Australia. A postal survey was therefore devised and the names of 350 dentists were randomly selected from the Australian Dental Association national membership registry. The response rate was approximately 45 per cent and the main results included: just under half of the respondents felt they were competent in basic resuscitation at the time of graduation, that is, in expired air resuscitation (EAR) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); just less than two-thirds had undertaken resuscitation training since graduation; about three-quarters felt they would be able to perform EAR and almost two-thirds felt they would be able to perform CPR; almost 90 per cent gained a satisfactory score in a Resuscitation Quiz included in the survey; and just over 5 per cent had had to resuscitate a patient.