• To understand the need for special care dentistry services for people with learning disabilities
• To recognise the role of the learning disability nurse in supporting people undergoing multiple procedures under one general anaesthetic
• To contribute towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD (UK readers)
• To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)
People with learning disabilities are known to experience barriers to accessing medical interventions, which contributes to the health inequalities experienced by this population. Dental care under general anaesthesia is sometimes indicated for people with learning disabilities to enable treatments to be carried out in their best interests. Some people may benefit from having additional procedures, such as blood tests, while under a single general anaesthetic for dental treatment. This article discusses some of the benefits of having multiple procedures under a single anaesthetic and describes a multidisciplinary process to facilitate this, including the role of the learning disability nurse. The article also discusses the importance of assessing clients’ mental capacity and best interests decision-making.
Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2022.e2188
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Lasky B, Doshi M, Bradley N et al (2022) Providing additional procedures for people with learning disabilities receiving dental treatment under general anaesthesia. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2022.e2188
AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank the team at East Surrey Hospital dental department who contributed to the data collection in their service evaluation
Published online: 10 November 2022
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