Preparedness and willingness of dental care providers to treat patients with special needs

Abstract

Arwa Alumran, Luloah Almulhim, Bainah Almolhim, Shouq Bakodah, Hessa Aldossary, Zahra Alakrawi Health Information Management and Technology Department, College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia Abstract: This study aimed to review the available literature about special needs dentistry, factors affecting treatment of patients with special needs, dental education, and the preparedness and willingness of dental care providers to treat patients with special needs. The study also aimed to assess the validity and reliability of available scales that measure the preparedness of dental care providers to treat patients with special needs. Forty studies from esteemed refereed journals were reviewed in this article. The topics in the study were relevant to special needs dentistry, Saudi Arabia, and dental care providers’ perceptions of treating patients with special needs. Reviewed studies were extracted from several electronic databases, such as PubMed and Medline. Studies in Saudi Arabia about special needs dentistry and the preparedness of dental care providers to treat patients with special needs are scarce. Further research in this area needs to be conducted in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: oral health, dental education, quality of healthcare, social determinants of health  

Keywords

• dental care providers
• patients with special needs
• special needs dentistry.