UTILIZATION OF DENTAL AUXILIARIES IN PRIVATE DENTAL SURGERIES IN KENYA

This study was done to determine the nature of utilization of dental a uxiliaries and medical emergencies in private dental surgeries in Keny a. A self administering questionnaire with pre-paid postage was mailed to 138 dentists. 27.5% responded. 81.6% used dental auxiliaries and t he main reason was to improve efficiency in managing patients. 93.5% o f the auxiliaries were on job trained secondary school graduates. 63.2 % of the respondents delegated duties which were mainly non-clinical. 26.3% did not delegate any duties. In a descending order, the reasons for non delegation were:- that it would be risky to patients, not allo wed by law, they did not find it necessary and that auxiliaries were n ot held responsible if something went wrong. The main duties delegated to the auxiliaries were cleaning of instruments and sterilization, mi xing of restorative materials and preparing amalgam. Delegation was do ne primarily based on auxiliaries capability to perform the procedure and meet the set standards. 57.9% indicated that they rarely encounter ed medical emergencies. Syncope was the commonest emergency encountere d. 72.7% indicated that auxiliaries could not handle medical emergenci es because they were not trained. It is concluded that most dentists d id not delegate clinical duties to dental auxiliaries and medical emer gencies were rare.