J Dent Anesth Pain Med.  2019 Feb;19(1):21-27. 10.17245/jdapm.2019.19.1.21.

Characteristics of patients who visit the dental emergency room in a dental college hospital

• Kim C
• Choi E
• Park KM
• Kwak EJ
• Huh J
• Park W

• KMID: 2439032
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17245/jdapm.2019.19.1.21

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Emergencies in dentistry can be classified as medical and dental. Medical emergencies occur mainly during dental treatment in patients with a systemic disease. Dental emergency departments are largely divided into dental emergency rooms located in dental college hospitals and medical emergency rooms located in medical institutions. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of and provide help to dental emergency patients in a dental hospital.
METHODS
Overall, 1806 patients admitted to a dental emergency room at Yonsei University Dental Hospital for 1 year were included. The data collection period was from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015. An investigator reviewed medical records from the electronic medical record (EMR) system and radiographs.
RESULTS
The patients were 1,070 men and 736 women. The sex ratio was 1.45:1. The commonest age group was of 0-9 years, including 451 (25.0%) patients, followed by 20-29 years, including 353 (19.5%) patients, and 30-39 years, including 277 (15.3%) patients. Of the 108 patients transferred to the Severance emergency department, 81 had trauma, 19 were in pain, 4 were bleeding, and 4 had other complaints. Among chief complaints, 1,079 patients (60.3%) had trauma, 564 (31.5%) had pain, and 75 (4.2%) had bleeding. Twenty-three cases (1.3%) were caused by temporomandibular disorder (TMD).
CONCLUSION
Dentists should be able to adequately assess patients in a dental emergency room and treat trauma, pain, and bleeding.

Keyword

Bleeding; Dental Emergency; Infection; Pain; Retrospective Study

MeSH Terms

Data Collection
Dentistry
Dentists
Electronic Health Records
Emergencies*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Female
Hemorrhage
Humans
Male
Medical Records
Research Personnel
Retrospective Studies
Sex Ratio
Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Age distribution

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  Fig. 2 Distribution according to visiting time

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  Fig. 3 Monthly incidence

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  Fig. 4 Incidence by day

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  Fig. 5 Visit route

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  Fig. 6 Progress after emergency treatment

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  Fig. 7 Chief complaints

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  Fig. 8 Distribution according to the age and disease category

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  Fig. 9 Total time in the emergency room

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