Patience And Compassion Are The Most Important Qualifications For Caring For The Handicapped

No one is excited about going to the dentist. Some find the experience haunting. Treating the handicapped is a difficult feat since they are afraid of dental treatment.

How do you explain to a severely mentally retarded person that the pain of a toothache can only be dealt with by a dentist using strange looking instruments and a myriad of complicated machinery?

How can a dentist deal with a palsied or spastic person who can't hold his head still long enough to be treated? How does a person confined to a wheel chair get to a dentist located in a clinic or building not equipped to handle wheel chairs? How can a dentist spend twice as much time on a handicapped patient when his waiting room is crowded with other patients and his appointment book is filled months in advance?

Because of these reasons, an organization of masons began a program for the dental care of handicapped people at a local clinic. It is rare to find such a facility which is open to all those with handicaps. The handicapped person will not have to shell out any money. Methods of payment for the patient may either be through public assistance or insurance coverage.

If a situation arises in which funds cannot be accessed, the cost is paid for by the foundation of the organization. Expenses such as hospitalization, fare, lodging, and dental treatment would be covered by them. Without air fare, the expenses would add up to around $350 to $550 per patient.

A hospital operating room is where much of the dental work is done while the patient is under anesthesia. Medical and dental evaluation is done a day before in the hospital. The center already has information about the patient even before the patient arrives.

While the handicapped patient remains in the hospital, a family member stays in an adjoining room to provide assistance to the needs of the patient. The average length of time spent by patients in the hospital is three and a half days. Though a large percentage of treatments are already handled in the hospital, out patient care my be needed. When needed, they will provide for follow up care.

Usually, those who have physical or mental handicaps are the ones who are treated while under general anesthesia. Treatment will be provided through the latest dental equipment. The patient can feel more secure and the doctors can be more comfortable with the new dental chairs.

A patient dentist is needed for handicapped patients. You should know what is important to them. It is necessary to know the patient in terms of his environment and how others see him. The program works hand in hand with the college of dentistry in the local university. This will add knowledge to procedures future dentists must take in treating handicaps.

As part of the service, the sponsoring organization will keep a record of the dentists who receive this special training and where they enter private practice so that local handicapped patients can be directed to their care. Requests for dental care may entitle a patient to sponsorship. We've been in the good graces of the families of the patients. The fact that the concern and care is there makes them really ecstatic.

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