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Receipt of dental care and barriers encountered by persons with disabilities
Author(s) -
Rouleau Tanya,
Harrington Amanda,
Brennan Michael,
Hammond Flora,
Hirsch Mark,
Nussbaum Marcy,
Bockenek William
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-4505.2011.00178.x
Subject(s) - medicine , receipt , dental care , family medicine , rehabilitation , population , physical therapy , environmental health , world wide web , computer science
A study was conducted to describe the receipt of dental care by patients with disabilities and to understand their perspective with regard to barriers to dental care. Subjects for this study were recruited among patients with disabilities seen at Carolinas Rehabilitation's outpatient clinic. A questionnaire consisting of 66 questions was completed by 344 subjects; with the topics related to both medical and dental care. Among the study population, 57.2% of subjects reported being seen by a dentist within the last 12 months, versus 67.3% before they became disabled. The last dental appointment was a routine examination for 59.5% of the respondents. Since becoming disabled, 16.6% of subjects reported problems receiving dental care. Financial challenges were the primary problem followed by physical accessibility issues. Further research is required to discover how barriers to care can be overcome to assure that those with disabilities receive adequate dental care.