Attitudes of Korean Dental Students Toward Individuals with Special Health Care Needs

Bridging the Gap: Dental Students' Attitudes toward Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)

BACKGROUND

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) face significant barriers in accessing dental care, resulting in poorer oral health outcomes compared to the general population. To reduce dental healthcare disparities, dental professionals must develop positive attitudes and acquire the necessary skills to treat PWDs effectively. This study aimed to assess the experiences, education, training levels, and attitudes of dental students and interns toward PWDs, and to explore the relationships between their exposure to PWDs, their education/training regarding managing PWDs, and their attitudes toward PWDs.

METHODS

Participants were recruited using convenience sampling. From May to June 2023, a pretested, validated online questionnaire (developed based on existing survey instruments and modified to fit the study context) was distributed to 98 eligible dental students and interns at King Faisal University. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used for analysis.

RESULTS

The response rate was 88.78%. There was a statistically positive correlation between students' exposure to PWDs and their attitudes (p < 0.05). Statistically significant relationships were found between students' education/training and their attitudes towards educational experiences and instructors (p < 0.01) and interpersonal interactions with PWDs (p < 0.05). No statistically significant relationship existed between the year of study and future encounters with PWDs (p = 0.176). Additionally, 42.5% of students felt inadequately prepared to treat PWDs, and 88.5% expressed a desire for further education. Notably, 20.7% reported no training on PWDs, while 70.1% preferred clinical education.

CONCLUSIONS

The study underscores the importance of exposure and training in shaping dental students' attitudes toward PWDs. Dental schools should prioritize structured teaching, greater contact with the disabled community, and hands-on experiences to ensure dental professionals are both well prepared and positively inclined to treat PWDs. These findings have significant implications for improving dental education curricula.

Ethnographic perspectives of mothers and professionals on including children with disabilities in oral health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

Children with disabilities generally face poorer oral health outcomes compared with their non-disabled peers due to a range of factors including inadequate oral hygiene, infrequent dental visits and systemic barriers in accessing care.

AIM

This ethnographic study explored the perspectives of caregivers and professionals to identify the ways that children with disabilities are included in oral health.

DESIGN

A purposive sample of 10 caregivers, all mothers with disabled children aged 9-15 years, five healthcare providers and five educators in Saudi Arabia, participated. Data collection used participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The findings suggest that mothers lacked a supportive environment to develop their skills and knowledge about oral health care, preventing them from including their children in oral health. Inaccessible services added to the exclusion of both mothers and children. Some dental professionals exhibited poor communication skills and discriminatory attitudes towards the children and problematising mothers. Educators tended to discuss disabled children in terms of inability, displaying a deficit approach to impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence suggests the exclusion of mothers from oral health. This has an impact on how they enable their children. Recommendations include adopting a social model of disability in dental education and policies in Saudi Arabia to address inequalities. Provision of support, education and focusing on societal barriers moves towards inclusion rather than conceptualising disability as an individual problem.

A five-year cohort study on German dental students: Self-assessment in regard to previous experience and attitude toward patients with different types of disability

AIMS

In Germany, a curriculum in special care dentistry (SCD) is not mandatory. As a result, very little is known about dental students' attitudes toward interacting with people with disability (PwD). The study´s aim was to assess this among dental students at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In the academic years 2016-2017 to 2020-2021, dental students in the 7th semester (UW/H) were asked to complete a self-assessment questionnaire. Prior to its start, the study had obtained a positive vote from the ethics committee of the UW/H (#174/2016).

RESULTS

Out of 199 students 166 persons on average 24.5 years old completed the questionnaire. Nearly all participants had already had previous experience with PwD in various domains of life prior to dental school (89.2%). Three-quarters indicated not having reservations about interacting with PwD. The proportion of persons without previous experience in interacting with a PwD was almost twice as high in the group with reservation (16.2%) as it was in the group without reservation (8.7%). Almost all surveyed students (92.8%) affirmed that they would like to learn more on the topic of "Professional Interaction with PwD."

CONCLUSION

Most of the respondents did not have reservations about interacting with PwD. Almost all the participants indicated a high level of interest in topics related to SCD. Also, the authors like to encourage the curriculum committees of dental schools at other universities to integrate courses on SCD, based on the iADH recommendations, into their dental curricula.

Body composition and hemodynamic changes in patients with special needs

Background

Some patients with special needs exhibit intellectual disability, including deficits in cognitive skills and decreased quality of life. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare changes in body composition and hemodynamics during general anesthesia in patients with and without special needs.

Methods

The backgrounds of patients who underwent oral maxillofacial surgery under general anesthesia were recorded from medical records. Intracellular water (ICW), extracellular water (ECW), stroke volume variation (SVV), and heart rate (HR) were recorded for 3 h after the start of anesthesia. Categorical data were compared using an unpaired t-test, and a P-value of less than 0.05 was regarded as significant. Numerical data were compared using the Bonferroni correction, and a P-value of less than 0.0125 was regarded as significant.

Results

A total of 21 patients were included in the study: 10 patients without special needs (non-S-group) and 11 patients with special needs (S-group). There were no significant differences in patients' backgrounds, except with regard to height (P = 0.03). In both groups, ICW and ECW were maintained, although they were lower in the S-group compared to the non-S-group. SVV was maintained in both groups, although it was higher in the S-group than the non-S-group. HR was significantly lower in the S-group 1 h after induction of anesthesia (P < 0.003).

Conclusions

Changes in hemodynamics due to body fluid imbalance should be monitored during general anesthesia, especially for patients with special needs.