Pitt Dental Hygiene teaches oral
hygiene care and instruction to
athletes of the Special Olympics
Winter Games in York.
March 2019:
First- and
second-year
Pitt dental
students fitting
mouthguards
for athletes of
the Special
Olympics Winter
Games in York.
This would not be such a problem
if patients with SHCN were but a
miniscule fraction of the total
population in the United States.
However, we can see in research
that the special needs community
is not a small population. Some
studies estimate the percentage of
patients with some intellectual or
developmental disability (IDD)
requiring specialized dental care
to be around 12%. 3, 4 Furthermore,
studies have shown that both caries
and periodontal disease are highly
prevalent among this group of
individuals. 6 In the case of some
of the more common IDD conditions
(i.e. unspecified intellectual disability,
autism spectrum disorder,
and cerebral palsy), there is
research showing a high
prevalence of both caries
and periodontitis in patients
with these conditions. 5, 6
Pitt AADMD chapter trip to York, Pa. Team
consisted of second- and third-year dental
students, two Pitt dental hygiene students,
Dr. Taiclet and her daughter, Dr. Veronesi,
and Dr. Cooke. Pitt chapter set up a dental
clinic at the Winter Games Special Olympics
Event for screenings, mouth guard fittings,
and oral hygiene instruction.
MARCH/AP RIL 2020 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL
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