Predoctoral education in special care dentistry: paving the way to better access?

The number of people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD) living in small community-based group residences is increasing throughout the United States. Dental services to this population, once provided in large institutional settings, must increasingly be sought at the community level. The purpose of this study was to determine whether U.S. and Canadian dental schools are adequately training their students to provide quality dental care to this group with complex psychosocial and medical issues. With a response rate of 78 percent to a mail survey, it was found that 53 percent of the schools provide less than five hours of didactic training in special care dentistry. Clinical training in this area comprised only 0-5 percent of predoctoral students' time in 73 percent of the responding schools.