Inclusive Dentistry: Integral Management of Pediatric Patients with Intellectual Disability and/or Communication Impairments. Case-Series Reports.

Dental treatment for anxious or fearful intellectually disabled children/adolescents (IDCA) may present great challenges, due to deficits in cognitive, intellectual, language, and social abilities, in conjunction with limited adaptive behavior. In many cases, it is necessary for the Dentist to implement advanced behavioral control techniques. Inclusive Dentistry (ID) considers profoundly each patient's individual interests and likes, including the social and family situations, for choosing the respective personalized plan -contemplating potential risks and benefits- for the behavior control, in order to obtain the maximal possible cooperation of the patient in the dental chair. Through ID, the Pediatric Dental Practitioner aims to alleviate the anxiety and fear of IDCA in the clinical setting, in such a way that these patients are positively motivated, on a long-term basis, for current and future oral care, both at the dental office and at home. This management approach may be a time-consuming method or require more effort by the dentist, but it reaps benefits when applied for many mild-to-moderate (and some severe) IDCA. The Practitioner must possess the knowledge, in-depth understanding, and professional training for the adequate use of ID during the behavioral management of anxious or fearful IDCA. The aim of the present report was to describe four representative clinical cases of IDCA at our Clinic, managed under the philosophical principles of ID.

Pediatric Dental Management of an Uncommon Case of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IV A (Morquio A Syndrome): A Case Report of a Three-Year Follow-Up.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IV A or Morquio syndrome is an uncommon inherited metabolic condition caused by the deficient intralysosomal storage of glycosaminoglycans. Diagnosis is typically based on clinical examination, skeletal radiographs, and histochemical tests in blood cells or fibroblasts. It is characterized by evident skeletal deformities, poor joint mobility, severe growth deficit, occlusal anomalies, and enamel defects. The aim of the present clinical case report is to describe the general oral management provided to a 6-year-old female patient and its corresponding evolution for more than three years.

Dental Management of a Young Child Affected by Galactosialidosis and a Gigantic Abdominal Growth.

Galactosialidosis (GS) is a rare form of lysosomal storage disease that involves a broad spectrum of skeletal and soft tissue abnormalities. We report here on a 4-year 7-month-old boy with mild mental retardation, exhibiting multiple caries cavities and associated infectious foci and macroglossia. A huge abdominal enlargement due to peritoneal ascites was evident. Behavioral management and patient positioning on the dental chair represented a true challenge. The patient was treated under general anesthesia. However, life-threatening postoperative complications occurred because of the impossibility of extubating the patient. A very careful preanesthetic assessment is crucial in children affected by general conditions associated with airway anomalies, such as GS.