Ilhami Aben / Fabian Renger / Attila Czirfusz Approaches and Success Criteria for the Promotion of Dental Health and Dental Care for People in Need of Care and Disabled

About this book

Around 15% of people worldwide have one or more disabilities. They are entitled to good dental care, but there are various reasons why they have poorer dental health on average and have problems with dental treatment.

The relationships between disabilities and dental health are explained for visual impairments, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities and cognitive impairments, autism spectrum disorders, and speech and hearing impairments. The various options for improving dental health and dental care for people with disabilities are explained.

The aim of this study is to gain more knowledge about how to contribute to good dental health care for people with disabilities.

A review of the relevant scientific literature will be used to identify successful approaches.

People with disabilities need appropriate support. This includes different methods of explanation, adaptations to the environment, and tools and techniques to reduce anxiety.

Recommendations for public health services are provided in this book.

By taking into account their sensory experiences and abilities, the dental needs of people with disabilities can often be met. Furthermore, solutions to the socioeconomic problems of people with disabilities are still inadequate and need to be improved.

The aim of this monograph is to use the scientific literature to provide an insight into the approaches and success criteria for promoting dental care and dental health care for people with disabilities. A literature review provides an up-to-date picture of what is in the focus of the topic, current scientific theories and the current need for research. To this end, the search terms used had to fully cover the topic of dental care for people with disabilities. Therefore, a wide range of search terms were used, including: “disabled”, “disabilities”, “special health care needs” and ‘SHCN’ as well as specific special health care needs such as ‘visual impairments’, “special physical needs” and “cognitive impairments”.