Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May;41(3):381-390.
doi: 10.1111/scd.12581. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Perceived barriers encountered by oral health professionals in the Australian public dental system providing dental treatment to individuals with special needs

Mathew Albert Wei Ting Lim  1   2   3 , Sharon Andrea Corinne Liberali  4   5 , Hanny Calache  1   6 , Peter Parashos  1 , Gelsomina Lucia Borromeo  1
Affiliations

Perceived barriers encountered by oral health professionals in the Australian public dental system providing dental treatment to individuals with special needs

Mathew Albert Wei Ting Lim et al. Spec Care Dentist. 2021 May.

Abstract

Aims: To investigate barriers experienced by clinicians treating individuals with special needs in the Australian public dental system.

Methods and results: Oral health professionals working at primary care clinics in the public dental system were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews or focus groups to discuss the challenges they faced in managing patients with special needs. Qualitative methods, employing inductive thematic analysis, revealed two primary barriers: 1. clinicians lacked confidence in their ability to treat patients with special needs because of insufficient training and experience, and difficulties obtaining information about their patients, and 2. barriers within the public dental system, including inadequate funding, equipment and facilities, and productivity pressures prevented clinicians from being able to provide the care patients required. The priority and understanding of the oral health for these individuals within the public dental system and wider disability sector was also raised.

Conclusion: A perceived lack of training and experience in managing individuals with special needs was a barrier to treating patients with special needs. Other significant barriers were under-resourcing of the public dental system and a lack of priority and understanding regarding oral health among carers of individuals with special needs and other health professionals.

Keywords: dental; disabled persons; general practice; health care utilization; medically underserved area.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. Specialist Dental Practice 2014. 2015. http://www.racds.org/RACDSNEW_Content/Education/Specialist_Dental_Practi.... Accessed May 2, 2015.
    1. Lopez Silva CP, Singh A, Calache H, Derbi HA, Borromeo GL. Association between disability status and dental attendance in Australia-A population-based study. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2021;49(1):33-39.
    1. Pradhan A, Slade GD, Spencer AJ. Access to dental care among adults with physical and intellectual disabilities: residence factors. Aust Dent J. 2009;54(3):204-211.
    1. Derbi HA, Borromeo GL. The perception of special needs dentistry amongst general dentists within Western Australia, Australia. J Gerontol Geriatr. 2016;5(4):2.
    1. Lim MAWT, Liberali SA, Calache H, Parashos P, Borromeo GL. Challenges associated with providing specialist dental care for individuals with special health care needs. (Submitted for publication)

LinkOut - more resources