Dental Management of
Patients with Special Needs 

Course Description:
Dental care and dental treatment are paramount to health. However, the provision of routine dental care can become quite complicated for patients with medical comorbidities and special needs, with increasing consideration the more complex the patient’s medical history and behavioral considerations are. The increasing prevalence of diagnoses of autism, coupled with the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease,and chronic infectious diseases, to name a few, has necessitated increased communication of dentists with physicians, as well as increased medical involvement by the dentist. The aging population, as well as growing population of patients with special needs (intellectual and developmental disabilities) has contributed to the increased medical management of patients for dental care. Many medications for these diseases also carry significant dental implications. Appropriate and routine oral and dental care contributes to improved health outcomes, but this care must be rendered in a manner that is safe and attentive to patients’ tolerance as well as systemic health concerns. Such considerations include necessity for anxiolysis and sedation, behavior management, as well as antibiotic prophylaxis, pre-procedural lab value verification, evaluation for patient optimization, and reduction of post procedural complications. Patients may also require modifications to medication regimens.

Learning Objectives:
1. Critically assess a patient’s medical history and assess need for further evaluation or information.
2. Review the implication of several common medical diagnoses of special needs on patients’ physiology and function.
3. Recognize the oral and dental implication and effect of several common medical diagnoses.
4. Describe best practices for how to communicate with the patient, caregivers, and medical team to optimize dental care and management.
5. Discuss varying levels of a patient's behavioral tolerances and medical history in order to better anticipate and avoid dental treatment complications.
6. Provide 2-3 example methods to manage patients who have difficulty tolerating dental treatment.
7. Identify 2-3 modifications and accommodations that can be made to provide appropriate and clinically sound care for complex patients

Speaker Information:
Dr. Chavis graduated from Harvard School of Dental Medicine and completed her general practice residency training at the University of Michigan Health System. She was faculty at University of Michigan before joining the University of Maryland Dental School Faculty in the division of Special Care. Her clinical interests include providing accessible dental care for patients with special needs, as well as medically necessary dental treatment for patients with medical complexities such as organ transplantation and cancer. Her teaching and research interests center around the education of dental students and residents to provide comprehensive dental care for complex patients, as well as methods of empowering and enabling dentists to provide dental treatments for patients with special needs and medical complexities.

Disclosure: Dr. Sydnee Chavis and the Planning Committee report they have no relationships with commercial organizations to disclose. There will be no discussion of off label products. 

Continuing Education:
Chesapeake Health Education Program, Inc. is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. 

Chesapeake Health Education Program, Inc. designates this activity for 3.0 ADA continuining education credits. 

Target Audience: Dentist, oral surgeons, dental hygienists, dental assistants, office staff

Educational Methods Used: Lecture/didactic, Powerpoint Presentation, Case Study

Evaluation and Certificate:
The webinar system will track your attendance for the program day. You are expected to attend 90% of the content hour portions (3.0 hours) of the day in order to receive credit. Any attendee who falls below the 90% threshold for attendance will not receive credit for the training. Attendees are expected to stay logged in until the conclusion of the webinar in order to receive the access code needed to complete the evaluation and receive credit for the day. Please plan to log-in to the training using a computer; calling into the training may result is a lower attendance score.

An evaluation will be emailed to attendees who completed the training within two business days of the program’s completion. The access code announced at the conclusion of the day will be needed in order to complete the evaluation. Certificates will generate upon submission of that evaluation. CHEP does not and will not issue partial credit certificates.

Registration Information:
Registration closes at the end of the day on September 28th.

Registration confirms acknowledgment and understanding of CHEP policies. Cancelation Policy and Greivance Procedures are both listed on the main education page at www.chepinc.org/education for your reference.

Dentist Community Provider - $75.00
Hygienist Community Provider - $60.00
Assistant/Office Staff - $45.00
VA VISN 5 Employee (with ID)* - $30.00