Abstract
Special Care Dentistry (SCD) or Special Needs Dentistry is a branch of dentistry concerned with the oral health of people with a variety of medical conditions or limitations that require more than routine delivery of care. There were reports on oral status of special care patients and special interest group for SCD dentists in Indonesia has existed. However, there was not perception report on SCD amongst dentists in Jakarta. This paper will describe the perception of dentists in Jakarta towards SCD. A cross-sectional questionnaire, translated and cross adapted to Indonesian, was distributed online through Whatsapp to dentists registered in Jakarta late 2019. Quantitative data was analyzed using statistical software for proportion and correlation using Chi-Square test. The questionnaire explored dentists' perception towards SCD. A total of 250 dentists participated in this study, of them 173 general practitioners and 77 specialist dentists. Most respondents reported that they did not have SCD component during undergraduate dental school and did not provide treatment to patients with special needs in their clinical practice. Most respondents have poor perception of SCD, however, most of the respondents showed motivation and interest towards SCD training. Dentists in Jakarta involved in this study had poor perception of SCD. More efforts should be performed to improve SCD education and awareness.
Highlights
Oral health was reported to be a significant health problem in Indonesian population [1]
Dentists registered as members of Indonesian Society of Special Care Dentistry, received dental qualification from foreign dental institutions, and those not practicing dentistry were excluded from this study
This study explored the perception of Special Care Dentistry (SCD) amongst the dentists in Jakarta using survey conducted online
Summary
Oral health was reported to be a significant health problem in Indonesian population [1]. Maintaining good oral hygiene and access to dental care amongst this cohort was, and still is, often non-existent, especially when compared to the general population. Problems such as lack of oral health awareness amongst caregivers and/or patients, limitation in the ability to perform oral hygiene practices, agility, and poor motor coordination, diet problems, medications’ side effects, limited access to dental care, or needing assistance in performing oral hygiene regime are evident to be responsible for the poor oral health in people with disability [4, 5].
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