CHICAGO--As advances in dental technology offer a greater range of treatments in dental offices, the ADA Foundation is taking a proactive step.
The Foundation is helping to ensure patient safety advances are in step with tomorrow's dental science through a $100,000 grant to the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology Research Foundation, Inc.
The grant will fund development of curriculum materials and advanced training to help dentists better prevent, recognize and treat exceedingly rare complications and emergencies that may arise in a dental setting from sedation and anesthesia.
The training will be a combination of electronic-mediated written materials and a laboratory practice component based on the latest scientific knowledge and techniques on the use of sedation and anesthesia, giving special emphasis to airway management and emergencies.
"At a time when dentists are increasing their use of sedation and anesthesia in the dental office," said ADA Foundation President Arthur Dugoni, DDS, MS, "there is a critical need for an advanced course that focuses on emergency management. As dentistry's premier philanthropic and charitable organization, the ADA Foundation is taking this opportunity to meet that need, and to fulfill its mission of educating dentists and promoting public and oral health."
The grantee also will carry out pilot testing of the proposed course. The ADA Foundation will then partner with the American Dental Association to make the course widely available sometime in 2009.
State dental boards will be encouraged to accept this course as an alternative to currently required emergency certification courses for dental professionals providing sedation and anesthesia. ADA Member dentists wishing more information should contact the CDEL at (312) 440-2694.
The ADA Foundation provides grants on a rotational basis for sustainable programs in dental research, education and access to dental care. The current grant is part of an education-related ADA Foundation Request for Proposals for its 2008 program year.
Announcement of the grant follows new anesthesiology guidelines approved by the American Dental Association last fall.
For more about the ADA and ADA Foundation, go to ADA.
To read more about sedation dentitry, go to sedation dentistry.
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