The dental hygienist as dental care advocate for persons with disabilities.

Abstract

Although there is a trend towards reduction in the severity of dental disease in persons with disabilities, gaps in the provision of dental services remain. As an advocate of dental care for persons with disabilities, the dental hygienist can personalize the provision of dental services and assist in removing barriers to care. Currently, hygienists function as dental advocates in primary, secondary, and tertiary care settings to various degrees. However, the impact they have is affected by a number of factors, including limited numbers of trained personnel, lack of dental awareness of the public and other health professionals, and access issues such as the cost of dental services, transportation difficulties, and the poor design of office buildings and dental offices. As the dental needs of underserved individuals are increasingly emphasized, it should be expected that educational institutions will prepare more dental hygienists to serve persons with disabilities. This emphasis and the efforts of dental hygienist advocates currently working with other health service providers, health planners, legislators, and health financiers may help persons with disabilities receive needed dental services.