I-Team: How safe is 'going under' at the dentist?
The NC Dental Board isn't doing enough to keep patients safe when they 'go under' at dentists offices, according to a new report by State Auditor Beth Wood.
"We all assume that if you're going to render these types of services under sedation, they're equipped to do it," Wood told ABC11 on Wednesday. "But what if my body went into some form of distress? What if my blood pressure went through the roof? What if my heart beat started racing? Are the people around me capable of taking care of me?"
Wood's answer to that question? Not necessarily.
Her report lays out three basic problems with the oversight of dental sedation in North Carolina.
First, dentists can sedate you with only a temporary permit for up to three months. That means no inspections and no guarantee that anyone at a dentist's office other than the dentist is trained in sedatives or emergency response to sedative misfires.
Second, after that initial inspection, the state Board doesn't do any follow up inspections, unless a complaint is filed.
Third, once dentists pass inspection, they aren't required to undergo ongoing or annual training.
"Technicians change, dental assistants change, and equipment gets older," said Wood. "They didn't go back and perform routine inspections to ensure that the continuing education was kept up. You may get certified for CPR but then you have to get re-certified. The board wasn't checking on any of that. Not on the equipment, not on the dental assistants and other staff that might be a part of the process, they weren't checking any of them. Plus, they weren't checking to see if the dentist kept his certification up in this arena."
Bobby White, COO of the NC Dental Board, said the organization completely agrees with Woods findings that dentists who administer sedatives should be better monitored.
"We certainly will engage in the process to see if we're missing anything," said White.
In fact, White says the Board has already started making changes. They are considering eliminating temporary permits for dentists who put people under, mandatory ongoing training for those dentists, and recurring inspections of dental offices where sedatives are given.
"Sedation in dentistry has been practiced safely in this state for 25 years with very few incidents," said White, "but one incident is too many and we want to eliminate even that if possible."
In 2012 and 2013, two people in North Carolina died after being sedated at dentist's offices. White said neither had to do with inspections. Each, he said, were about patient selection, suggesting the patients should have avoided sedation because of health conditions.
To read the NC Dental Board report, click here.
For information on the NC Dental Board, click here.
