The Emergency Profile And Treatment Provided to Patients at Medunsa

Objectives: The Medunsa Oral Health Centre (MOHC) is a tertiary oral health provider to patients having a variety of oral health needs. The emergency profile and subsequent treatment follow up has not been documented for ready reference. The purpose of this study is to determine the emergency profile and the follow up treatment provided to patients. Methods:A sample of 317 patient's files was drawn from the population of 1000 patients attending the MOHC during 2003. Of the chosen sample 66 patient files could not be traced. The relevant data such as age, gender, main complaint and follow up treatment were extracted. The information was subjected to statistical analysis adequate for dealing with discreet and categorical data. results: The main complaint due to pain was 75%. Patients presenting for routine examination but referred for emergency treatment was 15%. Trauma accounted for 10% of patient's visits in this sample. Treatment related to main complaint was completed only in 27% of patients. Conclusions: The comparison between the main complaint and the treatment provided could assist management in policies such as HR, Infrastructure Planning, patient care and teaching.