CDA Essentials 2016 • Volume 3 • Issue 8

19 Volume 3 Issue 7 | I ssues and P eople thought leaders series Dr. Alison Dougall dougala@tcd.ie What will be the biggest developments in special care dentistry? I think the biggest development will be that we can equip general dentists with the skills, attitudes and confidence to be able to provide care for most people with disabilities. Special care dentistry shouldn’t be particularly special. It’s part of a new approach to providing care in dentistry, which is patient-centred, according to individualized risk and needs, and uses the full range of what we are trained for: risk assessment, communication and behavioural facilitation. Two things that will equip dentists to overcome their reluctance or fear to treat patients with special needs? (1) People will have better role models because special care dentistry will be better integrated within society. We’ll just get used to diversity being far more visible in our society and our professional skills with go alongside that. (2) Legislation will mean that providing care to people with disabilities will be part of meeting our professional requirements. This isn’t about charity. This is equity. This is professionalism. And this is part of our professional duty. Priorities in special care dentistry? Preventive care. Sometimes people with disabilities have difficulty maintaining their dentition and this puts them at a greater risk for oral disease. So evidence-based preventive measures might need to be applied in alternative ways, such as working with people with autism to help them acclimatise to the dental environment and to eliminate predictable triggers that can make a dental visit more challenging for them. What do the next 10 years hold for special care dentistry? As part of our Thought Leaders Series, we posed this question to Dr. Alison Dougall, clinical consultant in special care dentistry at Dublin Dental University Hospital and director of the doctorate programme in special care dentistry at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She is also an editor with the International Association for Disability and Oral Health (iADH). There is still a fear factor when it comes to treating people with disabilities and that perhaps is the biggest challenge to overcome.