Oral health for people with special needs: consensus statement on implications and recommendations for the dental profession.

In November 2004, the Pacific Center for Special Care at the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, with support from the California Dental Association Foundation, hosted a conference to explore the issue of oral health for people with special needs. This conference was held in conjunction with the joint meetings of Pacific's Statewide Task Force on Oral Health for People With Special Needs and Pacific's Statewide Task Force on Oral Health and Aging. These groups of interested stakeholders meet several times a year to discuss the increasing problems faced by people with disabilities, elderly individuals, and other special populations in obtaining access to oral health services and maintaining good oral health. The purpose of this conference was to explore the changing population of people with special needs, analyze the implications for the dental profession and society, and describe systems and strategies that might lead to improved oral health for these populations. This conference also served as a forum for developing oral health recommendations as a part of the California Commission on Aging's Strategic Plan for an Aging Population. Seven nationally recognized speakers presented draft papers on various aspects of this topic. These presentations are published as the additional papers in this and the next issue of the Journal. There was time for audience reaction and discussion with the speakers. The speakers and a designated group of reactors then developed this consensus statement and recommendations for addressing these issues.

The extraordinary vulnerability of people with disabilities: guidelines for oral health professionals.

In the last 40 years, there has been a dramatic shift in living arrangements for people with disabilities from large state institutions to community-based care. This shift has required communities to increase their clinical capacity including oral health care systems. Oral health professionals must be cognizant that the rate of abuse and neglect experienced by people with developmental disabilities and other special needs is at least four times the rate experienced by the general population. These trends have resulted in additional responsibility on community oral health professionals to provide oral health services for many people who formerly lived in state institutions including recognizing and reporting suspected abuse and neglect. Oral health professionals must prepare themselves to successfully carry out these professional responsibilities.