• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 2018

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.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.68-77
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• 2014

An opportunity for dental students to come into contact with individuals with disabilities is insufficient. Therefore, prejudice and negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities persist. Working under the assumption that educating dental students regarding people with disabilities will bring about positive awareness, we conducted this study. We investigated the changes in the recognition of the issues and needs of people with disabilities before and after special care dentistry class of students of dental college that will include an experience in a dental clinic with a disabled person. Seventy-two Kyung Hee University School of Dentistry third-year dental students attended the special care dentistry class in one semester and they took the same survey was before and after the class. In the questionnaire, we used the disability factor scale (DFS) that Siller has proposed. The authoritarian virtuousness factor getting lower to a significant level after receiving an education. This means that after the education, the respondents realize that how hard to adapt the disabilities. After receiving an education, the rejection of intimacy factor score significantly get higher than before they took the class. This means that after the training, positive attitudes towards those with disabilities were better than those towards the opposite sex. We were able to confirm a positive change in the recognition for persons with disabilities through the special care dentistry class. Our study shows that educating dental students on the how to take care of individuals with disabilities can bring about a positive change in the attitudes students may have regarding them.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2014

Patients with disabilities are a significant segment of Korea population. However, they encounter more challenges when seeking dental care. So, dentists and students who are future dental providers should have a responsibility to provide oral care services for them. In this study, we hypothesize that the education of special care dentistry may influence positive attitudes of the disabled. The attitudes are influenced by demographic variables such as gender, religion, experience of volunteer activities and marital status. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the change of attitudes of students towards people with disabilities between before and after class of special care dentistry. 72 students enrolled at the Kyung Hee University were surveyed. All participants attended class of Special Care dentistry in the third grade. The survey was conducted two times, just before class and after class. The attitudes of students were assessed using the well-documented ATDP (Attitude Toward Disabled Person)-O(Original) scale and MAS (Multidimensional Attitudes Scales Toward Persons with Disabilities) scale through the methodology of questionnaires. The results indicated that gender, experience of volunteer activities and marital status did not affect their ATDP and MAS score. In religious affiliation, only, there were statistically significant difference in student attitudes between before and after class of Special care dentistry. It means that habitual religious activity may offer stronger effects on student's attitude than short-term education. Therefore, long-term and specific educational experiences are needed to promote positive attitudes for people with disability.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of dental student of patients with special care. Their satisfaction with education, and their professional attitudes and behavioral intentions concerning treating these patients were the issues of this paper. Paper-and-pencil survey data were collected from 289 dental students at the school of dentistry, Seoul National University. Most respondents agreed that it is important to be educated about providing care for patients with special needs at the school. The higher grade students they are, they got the higher degree of understanding about treating these patients and the more satisfaction with the education. However, their intentions to treat these patients in their future professional lives were negatively correlated with degree of students. Based on these findings, it is recommended that school curriculum about treating patients with special care be reconsidered to develop students' comfort level in treating special needs populations.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.49 no.12
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• pp.732-738
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• 2011

Special needs patient are one of the underserved dental patient groups in Korea. However, Lack of attitudes to oral care and the knowledge of health professionals are identified as barriers to oral health for people with disabilities. Health authorities have a key role in ensuring that the need for a comprehensive dental services is met. This review may help oral health professionals understand the dental considerations according types of disabilities and provide appropriate and necessary dental care for special needs patients.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2023

General anesthesia may influence the postoperative sleep cycle; however, no clinical studies have fully evaluated whether anesthesia causes sleep disturbances during the postoperative period. In this scoping review, we explored the changes in postoperative sleep cycles during surgical procedures or dental treatment under general anesthesia. We compared and evaluated the influence of general anesthesia on sleep cycles and sleep disturbances during the postoperative period in adult and pediatric patients undergoing surgery and/or dental treatment. Literature was retrieved by searching eight public databases. Randomized clinical trials, observational studies, observational case-control studies, and cohort studies were included. Primary outcomes included the incidence of sleep, circadian cycle alterations, and/or sleep disturbances. The search strategy yielded six studies after duplicates were removed. Finally, six clinical trials with 1,044 patients were included. In conclusion, general anesthesia may cause sleep disturbances based on alterations in sleep or the circadian cycle in the postoperative period in patients scheduled for elective surgery.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.50-54
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• 2016

Regular dental visit of disabled patients is an important strategy for maintenance of oral health because of the lack of awareness of oral care. But there is limited information about follow up period in disabled patients after dental treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the pattern of dental visit and dental management of special care needs patients according to the types of disabilities. A total of 140 patients who received dental treatment at Seoul National University Dental Hospital from 2010 to 2012 were reviewed. Patients were divided 3 groups according to the types of disabilities (disorder of external physical function, disorder of internal organ, psychic disability). Patient's characteristic, dental treatment performed, follow up period and frequency were investigated. The mean follow up period was 28.2 months and average frequency of visit was 3.69 times per year. There was no difference in period and annual visit between 3 groups, but significantly difference in cooperation with medical hospital in affiliation. Regular check-up was the most common dental treatment in all groups. In psychic disorder group, the proportion of sedative treatment was significantly higher than other groups. The results of this study provide information necessary for treatment planning and dental management of disabled patients.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.53-57
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• 2015

Most special health care needs (SHCN) people suffer from oral health problems due to high incidence and severity of oral disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of dental treatment provided in this patient population. The study population comprised 485 SHCN patients who visited Kyung Hee University Dental Hospital from 2006 to 2014. Based on the medical record, the date were evaluated according to age, gender, type of disorder, reason for visit, type of behavior management, and type of dental treatment. The most common age group was 7-12 year olds (26%). The chief compliant was dental caries (39%), as followed by oral exam (12%) and trauma (12%). Approximately half of SHCN patients (45.9%) was treated under behavior management. Restorative treatment was the most common procedure with the average of 2.9 teeth treated per patient. The results of the present study may be valuable for establishing the data of SHCN patients for primary dental care.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2011

In Korea, the elderly is defined as the person aged over 65 and the disabled is defined as the person who is registered with Ministry of Health and Welfare. In 2008, the elderly with disabilities was about 770,000. Korea was already poised for an aging society in 2000 and is ahead of and aged society in 2018 and a super aged society in 2026. So, the number of the elderly with disabilities will continue to grow. Various oral diseases can be seen in the elderly with disabilities due to the systemic disease and impaired self oral care, in addition to the physiological aging. Particularly, we should be care for the aspiration pneumonia, which is the major cause of the death of the elderly. As a professional for the special care dentistry, we should understand the general and dental, individual characteristics of the elderly with disabilities and do proper oral care and treatment. Thereby, the quality of life of the patients might be improved.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to clarify the barriers of dental treatment for special needs patients felt by dentists and to determine the dentist-related factors contributing to the obstacles in treatment planning and decision making. Questionnaires were distributed and responded by dentists working at five public-based special care clinics in South Korea. Factors divided into three parts (dentist demographics, clinical factors, and educational and administrational factors) were assessed and analyzed for correlations between dentist-related factors and dentist-felt burdens for special care treatment. Fisher's exact test and Chi-square test were used at the level of 0.05. A total of 34 dentists responded to the questionnaires. Almost all dentists had obstacles in the treatment of special needs patients in terms of the patients' lack of cooperation (94.1%), proxy communication with caregivers (94.1%), payment reward system (63.6%), deficient workforce (67.7%), and others. The longer dentists had been practicing for special needs patients, the more they were dissatisfied with the reward system and a longer time was spent for communication with patients and their caregivers (p<0.05). For specialists, more obstacles were experienced in treatment planning due to a deficiency in the clinical information obtained from their patients compared to general practitioners (p<0.05). A total of 82.4% of the respondents approved of mandatory educational programs for special care dentists. There were practitioner-based factors related to the amount of obstacles felt by special care dentists. To overcome the treatment barrier of special needs patients, in-depth education and training are required in special care dentistry.