Latin American and Caribbean dental schools: teaching about special needs.
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OBJECTIVES: Assess the extent of the teaching of care for individuals with special needs in schools of dentistry in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and deans and program directors' willingness to introduce such programmatic modules into the curricula. METHODS: The survey instrument (a short-answer questionnaire modeled from the U.S. Curriculum Assessment of Needs Project) was delivered to a survey sample gleaned from all LAC dental schools listed in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Directory of Medical Schools through a Web-based survey tool that delivered the questionnaire via e-mail and stored and displayed responses graphically and in real time. Schools with incorrect or insufficient e-mail/contact information or a primary working language other than Spanish or Portuguese were excluded from the study. A total of three attempts (by e-mail and telephone) were made to follow up nonrespondents. RESULTS: More than half of the 142 respondents indicated their students were receiving less than 5 hours of didactic training and less than 5 hours of clinical training in the care of individuals with special needs. Of these 142 respondents, 23% and 30%, respectively, reported that no curricula hours were needed for didactic or clinical training focused exclusively on care of individuals with special needs. Emphasis on the difficulties in developing such programs was placed on lack of faculty experienced in the care of patients with special needs. CONCLUSION: There is a need for increased didactic and clinical preparation of graduates of LAC dental schools in the care of individuals with special health needs. (+info)
Results of a major ambulatory oral surgery program using general inhalational anesthesia on disabled patients.
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OBJECTIVES: To assess the demographic characteristics and comorbidities of the group to be studied, as well as various quality indicators of a Major Ambulatory Surgery (MAS) program. Quantification of the surgical-anesthetic incidents. STUDY DESIGN: We aimed to perform a retrospective and descriptive analysis of disabled patients who had received oral ambulatory surgery under general anesthesia. Data obtained from the clinical history and telephone interview included the demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, previous dental history, cause of the mental disability, degree of mental retardation, comorbidity measured according to the scale of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), anesthesia or preoperative surgical treatments, level of analgesia, length of stay, incidents in the Resuscitation Ward, the rate of substitution, suspensions, patients admitted, complications and the degree of patient satisfaction. RESULTS: We included 112 oral surgery procedures performed on disabled patients who were treated under general inhalational anesthesia as part of MAS during the years 2006-2007. During this period, 577 restorations, 413 extractions, 179 sealants, 102 pulpectomies, 22 root canal treatments, 17 gingivectomies and 3 frenectomies were performed. A total of 75% (78 cases) of the patients had coexisting medical pathology. The average surgery time per patient was 72.69 +/- 29.78 minutes. The rate of replacement was 100%. The rate of suspension was 1.92%. The percentage of patients readmitted was 1.92%,due to significant bleeding in the mouth, which did not require treatment and the patients were discharged from hospital 24 hours after being admitted. The rate of patients who required re-hospitalization was 3.84%. CONCLUSIONS: The MAS performed in this group, despite being on patients with high comorbidity resulted in only a low number of medical incidents reported. (+info)
Preventive dental utilization for Medicaid-enrolled children in Iowa identified with intellectual and/or developmental disability.
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Oral health status of mentally disabled subjects in India.
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The aim of the study was to determine the oral health status and investigate the association of oral health status with various socio-demographic (age, gender, parent's education, income) and clinical variables (aetiology for mental disability and IQ level) among mentally disabled subjects. The study sample comprised 225 mentally retarded subjects aged 12-30 years attending a special school in Udaipur, India. Caries status, oral hygiene status and periodontal status were assessed by DMFT Index, Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) of Greene and Vermillion and Community Periodontal Index, respectively. Chi-square test, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple linear stepwise regression analysis, and multiple logistic regression analysis were employed for statistical analysis. There was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001) between all the age groups in all the variables of Oral hygiene index and DMFT index. The oldest age group had the highest scores for all the indices measured. Having Down's syndrome, parents with lower educational status and low I.Q. were the most important predictors for poor oral health status. The present study highlighted that the oral health status of this mentally retarded population was poor and was influenced by aetiology of the disability, I.Q. level, and parent's level of education. (+info)
Dental care and children with special health care needs: a population-based perspective.
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Meeting oral health needs to promote the well-being of the geriatric population: educational research issues.
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This article reviews some of the more recent demographic changes affecting aging populations. The author expands the concept of aging to include persons who may be chronologically young but biologically old because they are medically compromised or developmentally disabled. It is not known how many persons can be included in this definition who will need care, and the question is what are their needs and how are we going to teach dental students and dentists to care for them. These problems are discussed, and some models of care are described. (+info)