AADMD NATIONAL SRC NEWSLETTER

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "AADMD NATIONAL SRC NEWSLETTER"

Lesley Jacobs
5 years ago
Views:

1 AADMD SRC 10/31/2017 September/October Newsletter AADMD NATIONAL SRC NEWSLETTER UPDATES FROM SCHOOLS AROUND THE COUNTRY The University Of Minnesota School Of Dentistry completed many events this summer. This past summer they volunteered with Kids Ability Tee Ball Summer League where around 9 volunteers IT WAS SO THRILLING TO SEE THE ALTHETES GET EXCITED ABOUT GETTING THEIR TEETH CHECKED AND GETTING MOUTH GUARDS. KATIE MARQUIS played Tee-ball with the kids for a couple hours every Tuesday for 2 months. They had so much fun playing with the kids and enjoying some sunshine! They also volunteered with Special Smiles Special Olympics in June. They had around 15 volunteers who did oral health screenings, oral hygiene instruction, made mouth guards, and applied topical fluoride. It was thrilling to see the athletes get so excited about getting their teeth checked and getting mouth guards! - Katie Marquis. The students were also able to interact with the athletes and caretakers to learn more about their lives while watching the various sports! The University Of Texas Health Science Center School Of Dentistry at Houston had several students drive to College Station, TX to help with oral health screenings for the fall classic Special Olympics on October 14, There was also a lecture presented to the students on October 18, 2017 by Reach Unlimited an organization in the greater Houston area providing support services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The students learned about the many services offered at Reach and the volunteer opportunities available to the students as well. NATIONAL MEETING 2018 Plan on coming to the national AADMD meeting next year. There are opportunities to present research so keep that in mind throughout the year. It will be in Seattle Washington the weekend of June 29-July 1 st It will coincide with the national 2018 Special Olympics.

2 A note from the Research Board. Research Review by Dr. Kakkar INTRODUCTION In the past, healthcare givers have shown concern that handling the intellectual and developmental disabled group is challenging. People with disabilities can be cooperative and also the majority of the cases can be treated under the normal practice setting provided healthcare provider can learn and adapt certain management skill. Disability or impairment should not be interpreted as a lack of ability of a person and thus keeping this in mind, if a dentist, assistant, hygienist and patient access operator can put cumulative efforts to understand this group, they can be as cooperative as any other human being. A little extra help and assistance to understand these individuals can make the treatment very smooth and easy. Disabilities can be of various types such as impairment affecting the mind, the physical body or the skills thus every case in specific and unique in its own terms. People with disabilities and their caregiver are seeking providers in the society for the dental services thus helping them to maintain a good and healthy oral health. SOME OF THE HEALTH CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES FOR CARE It is very crucial to obtain a legal consent for both diagnosis and treatment before a healthcare provider can proceed to examine the patients with Intellectual and developmental disability. Also, determining the right guardian for obtaining the legal consent can sometimes be difficult as it needs to follow the federal and state guidelines. The dentist wants to make sure to review and consult patient s medical and dental history in order to get a clear understanding of the patient situation. It is advisable to consult a physician, family member, and caregiver to accumulate all the essential component of patient s medical history as much as possible. Cognitive challenges There are multiple variants that needs to be considered while examining this group based on the case by case. One of the ideas would be to establish a favorable patient-dentist relationship by effectively introducing the concept of language that patient can best understand and is more efficient in communication and thus easing the patient and building the trust and faith While communicating, it is important to be mindful of their thoughts and opinion. Respect their feelings and make sure to comfort their experience especially for the one who resists dental care. Design your plan in such a way that they get to visualize the procedure before actually getting that done on them. Incorporate hands-on demonstration and repeat the instruction thus helping them to get used to up with the environment and overcome their fear for dental treatment. Behavior difficulties Studies have shown that anxiety and fear are the two major cause of uncooperative behavior of the patient. But this has often been neglected by the healthcare providers and they consider this to be a natural behavior of the individual while underestimating the patient s past experience or even ignoring the fact that these group of people might had a very minimal dental setting exposure. Hence this is the strenuous condition that dentist might occur while dealing with Intellectual and developmental disabled population, however, by implementing the following strategies may help in reducing their behavior problem.

3 It is a vital and of paramount importance that this individual receives a welcoming environment right from they step into your dental office thereby your entire dental team beginning from the receptionist till the dentist shows them caring and friendly approach while greeting and meeting them. It will be a good idea to introduce them to your dental office couple of times before actually advancing towards the examination and treatment. It is very critical to get a sense of safety, care, and trust that make individuals to completely follow your instruction and expect their cooperative behavior. It has been observed in many of the situations where a patient behavior has changed if you hand them familiar things such as stuffed toys, animals or blanket. Also, allowing their caregiver to accompany them during the procedure can also help to reduce the anxiety and fear. Mobility problems Another common challenge that a dentist incur in the dental office is the mobility and transferring a patient to the dental chair as many of the patients rely on wheelchairs and walker for the movement. One of the ways that have really worked in the past is to ask the patient and caregiver about their specific predisposition to make a swift and convenient transfer. Also, it is advisable to confer the patient and caregiver about their specific needs. Keep the path clear and keep sufficient space and support on the way to help them walk. Deafness and Mute Developmental and cognitive disabled populations are often seen with hearing aids and are commonly very good in lip reading. Thus speaking slowly and loudly can help build a connection. Also, it is pivotal to acknowledge these problems and thus plan your appointment accordingly. Make sure to give time to patients to adjust their hearing aid according to the headpiece sound as that it might very disturbing and uncomfortable for them. Some patient even prefers to turn them off as sounds of the dental instruments may cause significant auditory discomforts. Making a proper eye contact and understanding the patient s visual aid and feedback can help an operator remarkably to interpret their reactions. While communicating, speaking slowly and loudly is recommended. Do not forget to remove your mask while speaking, if not a clear face shield can be an alternative. Maintain a positive and friendly working environment by annihilating the background noise and front desk conversation that can ease the patient and the treatment. CONCLUSION People with Intellectual and developmental disorders are looking for the oral health care and they have been struggling to get the basic oral health needs especially in rural areas. Educating the healthcare provider and training them to adopt skills can help bridge this gap. Note: The thoughts presented by the research chair Dr. Kakkar are his own, the inspiration for his review came from the following article. Practical Oral Care for People With Down Syndrome. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2017, fromhttps:// PeopleDownSyndrome.htm

4 The following are images from service events our chapters have been doing. Want to see your school s images featured in our next newsletter? me: Erica.L.Trammell@uth.tmc.edu for more information on how your chapter can be featured! Students from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry during their volunteer events this summer.

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 4th year dental students Lara Raney and Elizabeth Scott at the Special Olympic health Screenings in College Station

5 University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 4th year dental students Lara Raney and Elizabeth Scott at the Special Olympic health Screenings in College Station TX on October 14, 2017 WANT TO SEE YOUR SCHOOL S EVENTS IN THE NEWSLETTER? CONTACT ME! Erica Trammell AADMD SRC National communication chair Erica.L.Trammell@uth.tmc.edu

DENTAL CARE EVERY DAY

DENTAL CARE EVERY DAY A Caregiver s Guide U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Contents Getting Started... 2