Dental Care for Patients with Special Needs
Can special needs impact dental hygiene?
Some physical or mental disabilities make it difficult to maintain good oral hygiene. Dental patients with special needs require special consideration and a special needs pediatric dentist when receiving dental care at home and certainly in a dental office. Maintaining good oral health can be very challenging or even impossible when routine tasks such as brushing their teeth are difficult. Individuals with limitations may have trouble with performing the physical actions needed to maintain good oral hygiene, or they may simply not understand the importance of dental health due to a cognitive disability. These challenges often lead to an increased risk of developing oral health problems that, in turn, have a direct impact on whole-body health and quality of life.
How to choose a special needs dentist?
Most dentists can meet the needs of their special needs patients. Caring for a patient with special health care needs takes compassion and understanding. Often choosing a special needs pediatric dentist is an excellent choice for special needs patients due to the training and experience they receive working with children, adolescents, and adults; some with and without special health care needs.
As a children’s special needs dentist Dr. Justin has a passion for, as well as substantial experience working with patients who have syndromes, acquired issues, developmental issues, and other special health care needs.
Children Shine with Every Smile!
What types of special needs cases to you treat?
Firefly Pediatric Dental treats any condition that is congenital, developmental, or acquired through environmental situations, disease, or trauma. Common examples include:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Down Syndrome
- Cognitive Developmental Delays
- Speech and/or language delays.
What should you expect from a special needs dental appointment?
The team at Firefly Pediatric Dentistry understands that treatment needs will vary depending on the needs of the dental patient. Some patients may require longer, more tolerant appointments, while others may require multiple very short appointments. Patients may need to see a special needs pediatric dentist more often than what would typically be expected of a patient so the dentist can check for signs of dental problems more frequently.
The first visit for our new patients will be an evaluation, assessment, and we will discuss a plan for treatment if necessary. The patient may also receive a cleaning and xrays at this visit. Depending on the needs of the dental patient, we can book appointments in a quieter, less stimulating room.
Our goal is for all patients to be accepted and treated in a loving, patient way.
Dental services for special health care needs.
Firefly Pediatric Dentistry offers dental services for special health care needs children and adults. As a pediatric dental office, we can adapt to many difficult situations. If a local anesthetic won’t be sufficient to numb pain or ease patient anxiety during the dental visit we can modify the way dental treatment is achieved. We have other options for treatment, including private rooms, nitrous oxide (laughing gas), oral conscious sedation, and other techniques and methods to get your loved one the care he or she may need.
In some situations, sleep or sedation dentistry may provide the safest and most effective way to receive dental treatment. We offer oral sedation in office, as well as, treatment under general anesthesia with Dr. Justin at an ambulatory surgery center.
If more extensive adult dental procedures are required, we have multiple places we can refer to in order to get the treatment that is needed.
All patients and families are welcome at Firefly Pediatric Dentistry.
Our goal is to establish and maintain oral health so that you are not constantly focused on and worried about your patient’s oral health.