Preparing Dental Hygiene Students in the Care of Children with Special Health Care Needs: An Innovative Virtual Approach

Background: The impact of developmental disability (DD) on overall health is well documented. The Accreditation Standards for Dental Education Programs address the need for graduates to demonstrate competency in the care of individuals with special needs. The Standards for dental and dental hygiene education programs are to ensure students have exposure to clinical and didactic educational opportunities to prepare them for the care of persons with developmental disability, medically compromised patients, and other special needs populations. However, access to an adequate patient pool is commonly a barrier. Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) often present with unique oral health needs, calling for a tailored approach to best ensure access to and the provision of care.

Methods: A Special Populations course was developed as part of the dental hygiene curriculum at one 4-year dental hygiene program and taught to senior dental hygiene students. In a hybrid format, students completed online content over the course of 9 weeks, concluding the course with a half-day hands on workshop. Specific to the pediatric patient, the course included the five Special Care modules and one of the Preservice Health Training (PHT) modules on the care of a child with Down syndrome presenting for a dental visit. The PHT modules have been referred to as virtual patient modules, as they represent real life scenarios of persons with developmental disabilities interacting with medical-dental professions in the course of clinical care. The modules are interactive, whereby participants apply critical thinking skills as the answer questions as they navigate through the evidence-base modules (Fig 1). The Special Care online modules provide a knowledge base for care of CSHCN in an online, asynchronous delivery method. Content included an overview of CSHCN and oral health, provision of care, supervision, disease prevention, and behavioral guidance.

Results: Incorporating the PHT and Special Care Modules in the Special Populations course was deemed successful in several ways. The hybrid design of the course enabled students to complete the assigned modules independently. Regarding the PHT modules, the value of having a 10-year old boy living with Down syndrome presenting in the role of a dental patient cannot be understated. Anecdotally, students appreciated the opportunity to see a dentist interacting with the child/adolescent patient; observing the interaction left them feeling more confident and prepared for seeing a child/adolescent patient at a dental appointment in this social setting.

Conclusion: Incorporating Special Care online modules on children with special health care needs and the Preservice Health Training module on an adolescent presenting with Down syndrome in the Special Populations course was deemed successful in preparing dental hygiene students for care of the pediatric population presenting with special needs.