This article presents evidence-based clinical recommendations for use of pit-and-fissure sealants developed by an expert panel convened by the American Dental Association (ADA) Council on Scientific Affairs. The panel addressed…
Evidence-based medicine requires the integration of best research evidence with the clinician’s expertise and the patient’s unique values and circumstances. One of the most important issues in deciding what course…
Dentistry over the last 100 years has been characterized by improved approaches to education and practice. Parallel to trends in the field of medicine as a whole, dentistry is moving…
Evidence-based health care seeks to base clinical practice and decision-making on best evidence, while allowing for modifications because of patient preferences and individual clinical situations. Dentistry has been slow to…
This article presents personal observations on how the concept of evidence-based dentistry is faring in the profession. It considers how the dental profession’s concept of evidence has matured, how evidence-based…
As oral health is increasingly recognized as a foundation for health and wellness, caregivers for special needs patients are an essential component of the oral health team and must become…
Dental care in the operating room requires expertise to be efficient, effective, and comprehensive. By gathering appropriate information preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively, the dentist can assume the leadership role that…
Treating the special care patient is challenging for the treating dentist and dentist anesthesiologist. The goal is to have a patient free of disease and pain restored with aesthetic and…
Intellectual and developmental disorders can severely impair a patient’s ability to communicate and socialize. Individuals with such disorders tend to have unusual ways of learning, paying attention, and reacting to…
Since its discovery in the 1980s, HIV has infected every continent on the globe by crossing socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and gender barriers, and it continues to contribute to human morbidity…
Self-injurious behaviors (SIB) in patients who have developmental disabilities is a complex disorder, and its underlying etiologies are poorly understood. SIB is a significant factor in hospitalizations, decisions to use…
Oral minimal/moderate sedation can be an effective tool to aid in the dental management of adult special needs patients. Specific sedative drugs must be chosen by the dentist that can…
Children who have systemic diseases face a burden of disease distinctly greater than their healthy counterparts. Neglect or delay of addressing this burden can lead not only to significant morbidity…
Patients who have developmental disabilities and epilepsy can be safely treated in a general dental practice. A thorough medical history should be taken and updated at every visit. A good…
Treatment planning for adult oral rehabilitation starts before cases are scheduled and continues after the discharge phase. Practitioners providing dental care must be competent in all phases of dentistry and…
Neurologic diseases represent some of the most common disabling and costly conditions in older age. Alzheimer disease and cerebrovascular accidents (strokes) are two of the most common neurologic conditions, and…
Individuals who have cerebral palsy (CP) face many physical challenges throughout their lifetimes in addition to societal barriers that can have an impact on quality of life. The ability to…
Dentally anxious and phobic individuals are an underserved special needs population because of their avoidance of treatment. Dentists and their auxiliary staff, with an understanding of the etiologies leading to…
There are a number of diseases and conditions that prevent the sufferer from adequately opening the mouth. The danger of inanition, malnutrition, chronic periodontal disease, caries, and abscessed teeth are…
People with disabilities and other special needs present unique challenges for oral health professionals in planning and carrying out dental treatment. This article presents a schema for planning dental treatment…
