Oral health and supporting people with intellectual disabilities to get access to dental treatment
Intended for healthcare professionals
CPD    

Oral health and supporting people with intellectual disabilities to get access to dental treatment

Liz Hartnett Lecturer, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Martin McNamara Professor, School of Nursing Midwifery and Health Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Why you should read this article
  • To improve your knowledge of the barriers that people with intellectual disabilities experience when accessing dental services

  • To understand how to support people with intellectual disabilities with their oral healthcare

  • To familiarise yourself with latest evidence about optimal practice in oral healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities

Oral health is an important aspect of a person’s overall health and well-being. People with intellectual disabilities have poorer oral health than the general population, so it is essential that service users and their carers are supported to address this. This article provides information for nurses and other healthcare professionals on how to provide evidence-based practice that supports people with intellectual disabilities with their oral healthcare and assists them to access dental services. The authors examine the latest evidence about optimal practice in oral healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities, emphasising the importance of a person-centred approach. The article also discusses the barriers that people with intellectual disabilities experience when accessing dental services and how these barriers can be addressed.

Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2021.e2123

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

liz.hartnett@dcu.ie

Conflict of interest

None declared

Hartnett L, McNamara M (2021) Oral health and supporting people with intellectual disabilities to get access to dental treatment. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2021.e2123

Published online: 18 February 2021

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