Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 1

and other stakeholders also helped to refine the tool. “After we incorporated their input and made the necessary adjustments, the tool was used to guide the transition process of about 20 of our own patients for a second piloting phase. The tool has actually been used and it works,” adds Dr. Friedman. A Three-Step Approach The best practices outlined in the transition tool can be adapted to any SHCN patient group—children transitioning into the adult oral health care environment and adults moving from one dental environment to another. The working group suggests adopting a three-step approach to improve the care- transition process for patients, families and caregivers, and the dental team: • Step 1: Transition Readiness Assessment Conducting a transition readiness assessment with the patient and their family or caregivers will help engage them in setting oral health priorities and identify any particular needs and goals in self-care. This process can begin as early as age 12 and continue throughout adolescence, young or late adulthood. Age 18 does not have to be the cut off, as the age of transitioning highly depends on the condition, the family, the availability of resources, etc. Step 1 also includes a take-home letter template for the patient’s family or caregivers. • Step 2: Dental Summary and Care Plan Once it has been determined that the transition will take place, a dental summary and care plan should be completed by the patient’s existing dental practitioner and reviewed by the new dentist. The form, which takes 15–20 minutes to complete, is intended to provide as much information as possible about a patient’s broader life circumstances and past oral health care and helps to ensure a successful transition. The tool contains a glossary of terms as well as many links to short educational videos and other helpful resources. • Step 3: Meet-and-Greet This third step of the transition process can be carried out in a way that best suits the patient’s new practitioner— virtually or face-to-face. The meet-and-greet is the opportunity to review the oral health history forms, ask the patient and their family or caregivers about their needs and priorities, evaluate the patient’s tolerance for an appointment, discuss available care options, etc. The tool includes a meet-and-greet letter template for the patient to take home. “With this transition tool, patients and their families or caregivers will benefit from a more formalized transition process: they will be guided through the process, they will be more aware of what to expect, and they will knowwhat type of information to share with the new oral health care provider,” says Dr. Heather Carr, CDA vice-president and chair of the working group from 2016–21. For the dental teams on both the departure and receiving ends of patient care, following a step-by-step transitioning process will enable an organized, coordinated and consistent clinical protocol for facilitating transition preparation and patient transfer. “This transition tool helps you ask the right questions, so that you can serve the patient and their caregivers to the best of your ability,” adds Dr. Carr. The new transition tool, CDA Dental Patient with Special Health Care Needs Transition Process, is available at: cda-adc.ca/transition Access all resources for SHCN patients at: cda-adc.ca/specialneeds Caring for people with special needs is about becoming a little bit more sympathetic, empatheticand sensitive to those individuals’ needs. It’s about putting on a different set of goggles on how we view the population. -Dr. Clive Friedman CDA atWork