Special Care Dentistry

Consent and capacity – considerations for the dental team part 2: adults lacking capacity

Capacity is the ability of an individual to make a particular decision.1 Capacity is decision and time specific, and is determined by the type of decision, understanding of consequences, and ability...

Consent and capacity — considerations for the dental team part 1: consent and assessment of capacity

Consent is a continuous process,1 often reinforced by written documentation, but reaches far beyond a signature on a form. For decisions to accept or decline treatment, valid consent is required....

Blood tests for people with severe learning disabilities receiving dental treatment under general anaesthesia

One hundred patients with severe LD and behaviour that challenges attended Barts Health Dental Hospital, referred from North and East London between February 2014 and August 2015 for an initial dental...

Dementia and dentistry

Dementia is going to affect us all: either in the patients we treat, as sufferers ourselves or as carers for our loved ones. The dental team needs to be aware of the early signs and how to manage...

The multidisciplinary use of intranasal/intravenous conscious sedation: four case reports

All four of the following cases were treated in primary care facilities by clinicians who were experienced in both sedation and in the treatment of patients with special needs. All of the patients...

Dysphagia and dentistry

Swallowing is a process by which food and liquid move from the mouth, down through the back of the throat, through the oesophagus and into the stomach. It is estimated that each individual swallows...

Special care dentistry: part 2. dental management of patients with drug-related acquired bleeding disorders

As discussed in part 1, primary haemostasis is achieved by a platelet plug occluding the wound after blood vessel damage, and is mediated by interactions between platelets, coagulation factors and the...

Special care dentistry for general dental practice

As set out in GDC guidelines, there are three main principles4 which are essential in order to gain valid consent from a patient:.

Sedation for patients with movement disorders

The phrase ‘Movement disorders’ describes a wide range of conditions which are neurological in origin and are manifest in individuals as problems with the control of body movement.1 Movement involves...

Sickle cell disease, dentistry and conscious sedation

Sickle cell disease is found in many populations and parts of the world historically associated with malarial endemicity. People of Afro-Caribbean, West African, Asian and Northern Greek descent are...