It truly is an impressive time to be a
dentist. We are moving at breakneck
speeds to develop better, faster and
more efficient ways of caring for
our patients. However, with this
burgeoning of technology and
advancements in the field will come
a new set of challenges. Goals that,
at one time, seemed completely
unattainable are entering the realm
of our grasp. Now, with this in mind,
it is time that we turn our attention
and concentrate more fully on a group
of individuals who most definitely
deserve our time and our provision
of dental care. At the various AADMD
events, Pitt students continuously
detect profoundly unmet needs in
a group of individuals who endure
oral and dental disease, often as an
unfortunate outcome of their systemic
condition. Access to care for this group
of patients must improve in the
interest of creating a better quality
of life for patients, whose disease
processes and oral comorbidities
are typically no fault of their own.
Encouragingly, there is little doubt
that the percentage of providers
willing to treat individuals with SHCN
is increasing 1 , and the efforts of
special-interest organizations like the
AADMD are all signs that we are
“pointing in the right direction.” With
an ever-increasing number of aware
providers pouring out into the ranks
of the dental profession, perhaps we
may end this discussion on a hopeful
note. It is far from a perfectly bright
future, but it is an encouraging one.
It will take the efforts of many to
overcome the trials of these few;
but try we must, for no other
population of individuals is as grateful,
as impacted or as deserving of our
time and effort.
REFERENCES
APR
Pitt Dental students
volunteering at
Allegheny County’s
Special Olympics Track
and Field Event.
1. Bayarsaikhan Z, Cruz S, Neff J, Chi DL.
Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Dental Care
for Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs:
Dentist Perspectives--Part Two. Pediatr Dent.
2015;37(5):447–451.
2. Nowak, Arthur J. et al. Facilitating the Transition of
Patients With Special Health Care Needs From
Pediatric to Adult Oral Health Care. The Journal of
the American Dental Association, Volume 141,
Issue 11, 1351 - 1356
3. Lawton, L. (2002). Providing dental care for
special patients: Tips for the general dentist.
Journal of the American Dental
Association,133(12), 1666-1670. doi:10.14219/
jada.archive.2002.0118
4. Bethell, C.D., Read, D., Blumberg, S.J. et al. (2008).
What is the Prevalence of Children with Special
Health Care Needs? Toward an Understanding of
Variations in Findings and Methods Across Three
National Surveys. Maternal Child Health Journal.
12: 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-007-0220-5
5. Suzanne McDermott, Julie Royer, Tara Cope, Scott
Lindgren, Elizabeth Momany, Jae Chul Lee, Mary
Joan McDuffie, Emily Lauer, Stephen Kurtz, and
Brian S. Armour (2018) Using Medicaid Data to
Characterize Persons With Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities in Five U.S. States.
American Journal on Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities: July 2018, Vol. 123,
No. 4, pp. 371-381
6. Silvana Nunes da Silva Thais Gimenez Rafael
Celestino Souza Anna Carolina Volpi Mello‐Moura
Daniela Prócida Raggio Susana Morimoto Juan
Sebastian Lara Giovana Correia Soares Tamara
Kerber Tedesco. (2016). Oral health status of
children and young adults with autism spectrum
disorders: systematic review and meta‐analysis.
International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2017;
27: 388– 398. doi: 10.1111/ipd.12274
7. Kratunova E., da Fonseca M.A. (2019) Common
Oral Conditions in Children with Special Needs.
In: Nelson T., Webb J. (eds) Dental Care for
Children with Special Needs. Springer, Cham. doi:
10.1007/978-3-030-10483-2_8.
8. Anders, P. L. and Davis, E. L. (2010), Oral health of
patients with intellectual disabilities: A systematic
review. Special Care in Dentistry, 30: 110-117.
doi:10.1111/j.1754-4505.2010.00136.x
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