AEGD FEATURE
AEGD Training Sites Devoted to Special Needs Dentistry
Oral health care is often cited as the leading unmet healthcare need among people with special needs .
Dentists do not necessarily have to rely on sedation to successfully treat this marginalized population .
What is required is extreme patience , compassion , dedication to establishing a patient ’ s trust and a willingness to schedule longer appointments and make other special accommodations .
Though separated by 2,000 miles and two time zones , Lee Specialty Clinic in Louisville , Kentucky , and We Care Dental of Western University in Rancho Mirage , California , share a very special commonality . Both NYU Lutheran Dental Medicine affiliated AEGD training sites are devoted to providing interdisciplinary dental and medical care to patients with special needs .
“ Special needs ” is an umbrella term covering a wide range of diagnoses , including intellectual and developmental disabilities ( IDD ), such as autism , Down syndrome , cerebral palsy and epilepsy and is defined by the Commission on Dental Accreditation ( CODA ) as “ those patients whose medical , physical , psychological , or social situations make it necessary to modify normal dental routines in order to provide dental treatment … and include people with developmental disabilities , complex medical problems , and significant physical limitations .”
8 NYU Lutheran Dental Medicine Postdoctoral Dental Residency Programs