Special Needs Patients For Dental Treatment - 1895 Words

Sedating Special Needs Patients for Dental Treatment â€Å"Too many times we see special needs patients who have been held down, papoosed and head-boarded while receiving brief treatment at other offices. While we understand that the care of these individuals can be challenging, they shouldn’t be shortchanged by a quick cleaning, no x-rays or an extraction instead of saving a tooth because that office can’t stabilize the individual in a comfortable and humane fashion.† (Dr.Kaminski) Patients with disabilities and special needs deserve the same kind of dental care as a patient who does not. Special needs patients require more care and attention than patients that do not have special needs or disabilities. Patients with medical conditions that†¦show more content†¦Patients with physical or mental disabilities should be sedated in order for them to get the proper dental care that they need because they may not be able to cooperate during the procedure. As stated by Dr.Bain, D.D.S, Patients with medical condit ions such as Down’s syndrome and cerebral palsy may have physical limitations that keep them from sitting comfortably in the patient chair and staying still during dental treatment. Patients with physical disabilities may have a hard time remaining calm. The physical disability of the special needs patient may cause them to fidget and move around a lot. This can make it more difficult for them to keep their head straight or their mouth open for the dentist. In addition, patients that lack good communication skills may also have a hard time cooperating with treatment because they are unable to communicate to the dental staff or their caregiver any discomfort or pain they feel during treatment. This makes it harder for the dentist to complete the treatment correctly because the patient may have a difficult time informing their needs to the dentist or the assistant. As a result, the patient will not be able to cooperate with treatment if they are experiencing pain or discomfort . If the patient can not communicate to the dental staff that something is causing them pain or discomfort the patient is not only going to be very uncomfortable, but they are also going to remember the procedure as a traumatic