The sixth annual Sedation Safety Week, beginning on March 17, will focus on children and teens.
This year, five $1,000 educational scholarships will be awarded to dentists who work in the nonprofit sector to facilitate their ability to receive advanced training in pediatric safety. The scholarships come from DOCS Education, the sedation week organizer.
During the week, dentists and their team members throughout the U.S. are encouraged to review every aspect of their sedation-related safety protocols. That includes engaging in safety drills, examining treatment equipment, checking that supplies are fresh and adequate, and -- most important -- ensuring that all members of the dental team are knowledgeable and up-to-date when it comes to the best available safety and procedural approaches.
Changes in health insurance laws will result in a large increase in the number of children who will gain dental coverage over the next five years. That, in turn, will mean that existing pediatric dentists will see the number of their patients increase, while general dentists will be increasingly called on to provide care to children and teens.
Each year, Sedation Safety Week provides sedation dentists with tools, materials, and encouragement allowing them to review their process of patient selection, patient monitoring, staff training, staff drills, and emergency preparedness. Activities are always free and open to all oral health professionals.
In addition, the week encourages dentists to work in close partnership with their patients and their patients' families to maximize the safety and comfort of those requiring treatment. Patients who avoid the dentist until their oral health issues become acute, suffer needlessly and often discover that the extent of their problems is far greater than if they had received early treatment.
