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
. 2022 Aug;86(8):990-997.
doi: 10.1002/jdd.12927. Epub 2022 Mar 24.

Dental student's perceptions and experience treating adults with developmental disabilities

Nashat Cassim  1 , Maria Mylopoulos  2 , Karen Campbell  1 , Laura Dempster  1
Affiliations

Dental student's perceptions and experience treating adults with developmental disabilities

Nashat Cassim et al. J Dent Educ. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of dental students with regards to treating adults with developmental disabilities (AWDDs).

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three groups of participants: experts who extensively work with AWDDs (n = 3), students who had no clinical training to treat AWDDs (n = 3), and students who had completed their clinical training to treat AWDDs (n = 8). One-on-one interviews were conducted in-person or via video call with each participant. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes.

Results: Experts described their motivations for working with AWDDs. Students in both groups identified the challenges of working with AWDDs and highlighted the impact of the informal curriculum as well as the increased importance of clinical training. Students who had received clinical training described the clinical rotation as a transformative learning experience that instilled a sense of health advocacy. There was alignment of themes between all three groups in terms of skills desired, acquired, and required to work with AWDDs; however, the students who had received clinical training and the experts differed on their opinion of the relative importance of the skills they developed.

Conclusions: The alignment of perceptions between students and experts is promising and demonstrates the successes of the existing curriculum. The misalignment between students and experts highlights areas in the curriculum that can be improved through adjustments and augmentation.

Keywords: developmental disabilities; predoctoral dental education; qualitative research.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Anders PL, Davis EL. Oral health of patients with intellectual disabilities: a systematic review. Spec Care Dentist. 2010;30(3):110-117.
    1. da Rosa SV, Moysés SJ, Theis LC, et al. Barriers in access to dental services hindering the treatment of people with disabilities: a systematic review. Int J Dent. 2020;2020.
    1. Dao LP, Zwetchkenbaum S, Inglehart MR. General dentists and special needs patients: does dental education matter? J Dent Educ. 2005;69(10):1107-1115.
    1. Smith CS, Ester TV, Inglehart MR. Dental education and care for underserved patients: an analysis of students’ intentions and alumni behavior. J Dent Educ. 2006;70(4):398-408.
    1. Mandasari M, Rahmayanti F, Derbi H, et al. Special care dentistry perception among dentists in Jakarta: an online survey study. PloS One. 2021;16(4):e0249727.

LinkOut - more resources