Abstract
Special care dentistry, also known as special needs dentistry, is concerned with the oral health of people who have intellectual disability, or who are affected by other medical, physical, or psychiatric issues. Dental schools must educate dental students for the competency in managing and treating individuals with special health care needs. The purpose of this study is to identify the current status of special care dentistry education in Korean dental schools. A questionnaire relating to the education of special care dentistry was sent to eleven dental schools in Korea via email. The result turned out that eight out of eleven schools had classroom teaching of special care dentistry, while only four had practical teaching programs. Nine schools had dental clinics for the disabled, in which two of them had special care clinics within the Pediatric dentistry clinic, and other seven in separate clinical sites. Despite the increased interest in special care dentistry, education including classroom teaching and practical teaching was still insufficient and needed more development. This study implicated a small but valuable understanding of special needs dentistry education in Korea.
