The risk for complications while providing dental procedures is greatest when caring for patients having significant medical compromise. It is comforting that significant adverse events can generally be prevented by careful preoperative assessment, along with attentive intraoperative monitoring and support. Nevertheless, the office team must be prepared to manage untoward events should they arise. This continuing education article will address basic emergency drugs that should be available in all dental practices and additional agents that become essential for those practices providing various levels of procedural sedation or general anesthesia.

Offices and outpatient dental facilities must be properly equipped with devices for airway management, oxygenation, and ventilation. Optimizing patient safety using crisis resource management (CRM) involves the entire dental office team being familiar with airway rescue equipment. Basic equipment for oxygenation, ventilation, and airway management is mandated in the majority of US dental offices per state regulations. The immediate availability of this equipment is especially important during the administration of sedation and anesthesia as well as the treatment of medical urgencies/emergencies. This article reviews basic equipment and devices essential in any dental practice whether providing local anesthesia alone or in combination with procedural sedation. Part 2 of this series will address advanced airway devices, including supraglottic airways and armamentarium for tracheal intubation and invasive airway procedures.

Adverse reactions may occur with any of the medications prescribed or administered in dental practice. Most of these reactions are somewhat predictable based on the pharmacodynamic properties of the drug. Others, such as allergic and pseudoallergic reactions, are less common and unrelated to normal drug action. This article will review the most common adverse reactions that are unrelated to drug allergy.

Adverse reactions may occur with any of the medications prescribed or administered in dental practice. Most of these reactions are somewhat predictable based on the pharmacodynamic properties of the drug. Others, such as allergic and pseudoallergic reactions, are less common and unrelated to normal drug action. This article will review the most common adverse reactions that are unrelated to drug allergy.

The majority of patients requiring procedural sedation for dental care may be treated safely by practitioners using local anesthesia combined with nitrous oxide and/or enteral benzodiazepines. Physicians and dentists educationally trained, qualified, and licensed may use intravenous titration techniques titrated to levels to achieve moderate sedation. More difficult cases, however, require the expertise of providers trained to competency and licensed to administer general anesthesia.Society and state monitoring guidelines provide guidance as to the monitoring necessary for the type sedation provided coupled with the physical status of the patient. Accurate, continuous monitoring of airway, oxygenation, and ventilation is necessary to avoid patient compromise and the need for life-saving interventions. Patient safety is enhanced by training the dental office team in crisis resource management, detailed protocols, checklists, and in emergency crisis scenarios.

Adverse reactions to medications prescribed or administered in dental practice can be worrying. Most of these reactions are somewhat predictable based on the pharmacodynamic properties of the drug. Others, such as allergic and pseudoallergic reactions, are generally unpredictable and unrelated to normal drug action. This article will review immune and nonimmune-mediated mechanisms that account for allergic and related reactions to the particular drug classes commonly used in dentistry. The appropriate management of these reactions will also be addressed.

Glucocorticosteroids are a product of the adrenal cortex and perform a staggering number of physiological effects essential for life. Their clinical use is largely predicated on their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties, but they also have notable efficacy in the prophylaxis of postoperative nausea and vomiting. This article reviews the basic functions of glucocorticoids and their clinical use in dental practice.

Antibiotics play a vital role in dental practice for managing orofacial infections. They are used to manage existing infection and they are also used as prophylaxis for certain medical conditions and surgical procedures. This article will review pharmacological and therapeutic considerations for the proper use of these agents for dental infections.

An astounding number of drug classes and formulations are available to manage infections. Fortunately, the microorganisms associated with odontogenic and periodontal infections are well characterized and a relatively small number of antimicrobial agents are required to effectively manage dental infections. With the exception of allergy, adverse effects attributed to these antibiotics are surprisingly infrequent, but most agents are implicated in producing nausea, dyspepsia, and diarrhea. This article will review essential pharmacology of appropriate drug classes and then address clinical considerations for their therapeutic and prophylactic use.

Autonomic drugs are used clinically to either imitate or inhibit the normal functions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. A large number of additional drug classes also interact with these systems to produce a stunning number of possible side effects. This article reviews the basic function of the autonomic nervous system and the various drug classes that act within these neural synapses.

Local anesthetics have an impressive history of efficacy and safety in medical and dental practice. Their use is so routine, and adverse effects are so infrequent, that providers may understandably overlook many of their pharmacotherapeutic principles. The purpose of this continuing education article is to provide a review and update of essential pharmacology for the various local anesthetic formulations in current use. Technical considerations will be addressed in a subsequent article.

Moderate and deep sedation can be provided using several routes of drug administration including oral (PO), inhalation, and parental injection. The safety and efficacy of these various techniques is largely dependent on pharmacokinetic principles. This continuing education article will highlight essential principles of absorption, distribution, and elimination of commonly used sedative agents.

The risk for cardiovascular complications while providing any level of sedation or general anesthesia is greatest when caring for patients already medically compromised. It is reassuring that significant untoward events can generally be prevented by careful preoperative assessment, along with attentive intraoperative monitoring and support. Nevertheless, providers must be prepared to manage untoward events should they arise. This continuing education article will review cardiovascular complications and address their appropriate management.

The risk for complications while providing any level of sedation or general anesthesia is greatest when caring for patients having significant medical compromise. It is reassuring that significant untoward events can generally be prevented by careful preoperative assessment, along with attentive intraoperative monitoring and support. Nevertheless, we must be prepared to manage untoward events should they arise. This continuing education article will review respiratory considerations and will be followed by a subsequent article addressing cardiovascular considerations.

The potential for interactions with current medications should always be considered when administering or prescribing any drug. Considering the staggering number of drugs patients may be taking, this task can be daunting. Fortunately, drug classes employed in dental practice are relatively few in number and therapy is generally brief in duration. While this reduces the volume of potential interactions, there are still a significant number to be considered. This article will review basic principles of drug interactions and highlight those of greatest concern in dental practice.

Safe and effective management of acute dental pain can be accomplished with nonopioid and opioid analgesics. To formulate regimens properly, it is essential to appreciate basic pharmacological principles and appropriate dosage strategies for each of the available analgesic classes. This article will review the basic pharmacology of analgesic drug classes, including their relative efficacy for dental pain, and will suggest appropriate regimens based on pain intensity. Management of chronic pain will be addressed in the second part of this series.

Nausea, vomiting, and hiccups are troubling complications associated with sedation and general anesthesia. This article will review the basic pathophysiology of these events and current recommendations for their prevention and management.

Mild hypothermia is common during deep sedation or general anesthesia and is frequently associated with patient discomfort and shivering. Greater declines in temperature can produce an even greater number of significant detrimental effects. This article reviews principles of thermoregulation and influences of anesthetic agents. An understanding of these will provide a foundation for strategies to reduce heat loss and better manage patient discomfort when it occurs.

A thorough assessment of a patient's medical status is standard practice when dental care is provided. Although this is true for procedures performed under local anesthesia alone, the information gathered may be viewed somewhat differently if the dentist is planning to use sedation or general anesthesia as an adjunct to dental treatment. This article is the first of a 2-part sequence and will address general principles and cardiovascular considerations. A second article will address pulmonary, metabolic, and miscellaneous disorders.

The American Dental Association and several dental specialty organizations have published guidelines that detail requirements for monitoring patients during various levels of sedation and, in some cases, general anesthesia. In general, all of these are consistent with those guidelines suggested by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force for Sedation and Analgesia by Non-Anesthesiologists. It is well-accepted that the principal negative impact of sedation and anesthesia pertains to the compromise of respiratory function, but attentive monitoring of cardiovascular function is also important. While monitoring per se is a technical issue, an appreciation of its purpose and the interpretation of the information provided require an understanding of basic cardiovascular anatomy and physiology. The focus of this continuing education article is to address essential physiological aspects of cardiovascular function and to understand the appropriate use of monitors, including the interpretation of the information they provide.