Patient at Risk and Specialized Dental Care

Abstract

The study aim was to find out the need of specialized dental care in patients at risk (N=337) advised to the Stomatological Clinic, Medical Faculty, Masaryk University and the Faculty Hospital of Saint Ann in Brno for examination and/or treatment within 2002 - 2004. In addition, the diagnoses of diseases and their combinations affecting advised persons were registered as well as their influence on the method of dental treatment. The data on the type of recommending practice and the affiliation to the Health Insurance were followed, too. Patients were referred most frequently from their private dental practices (37.7%), and different departments of the Faculty Hospital (38.0%), whereas the frequency of patients without recommendation was lower (16.0%). The most common diagnoses of advised patients were mental retardation (12%), allergy including asthma bronchiale (9.2%), skin diseases (9.9%) and patients suffering from cardio-vascular diseases (5.3%) and phobia (5%). Combinations of several severe systemic diseases were recorded in more than 30% patients.The main requirement in patients advised by their private dental practice was a complex dental treatment or a specialized intervention in patients at risk. Specialists of different Faculty Hospital departments asked most often for examination before a planned surgical treatment or for a dental treatment in relation to patient's hospitalization reasons.

Keywords

• patient at risk
• dental care
• dentistry
• handicapped patient