To match the growing need for dental clinics that cater to patients with special medical needs such as cerebral palsy, HIV and autism, the USC School of Dentistry operates the Special Patients Clinic, where students are trained to work with special needs patients.
"The clinic has been open for about 20 years, but like anything, autism is something we're starting to see more and more of now," said Angelica Urquijo, director of public relations at the School of Dentistry.
Dr. Roseann Mulligan, associate dean for community health programs and professor at the School of Dentistry, first conceived the idea for the clinic when she recognized a need for specially trained dentists to care for patients with special needs.
"There were finite opportunities of how and where such a clinic could be established, and initially we piggybacked onto a program at the time at USC which taught students how to treat patients using a team approach with assistants," Mulligan said.
The team approach is beneficial to patients with special needs because it allows for procedures to be performed more quickly, Mulligan said.
The Special Patients Clinic at USC is one of only a few in Southern California that offers services for patients with special needs.
Many dentists do not offer treatment for patients with special needs because the procedures generally take much longer and dentists are usually paid on a per-case rather than a per-hour basis.
In fact, very few dentists are trained to treat patients with special needs.
"As people became disabled, either through physical disability, medical problems or perhaps even developmentally, there are less and less opportunities for them to find practitioners who are experienced in dealing with their medical conditions," Mulligan said.
But at USC, all dentistry students receive one week's worth of training in the Special Patients Clinic so that all graduating dentistry students are able to provide their services to those with special needs.
Dentistry students said they find the experience valuable, and many said they ask if they can continue to volunteer in the clinic after their one- week rotation.
"It really helped me to learn more about people with medical issues and how to deal with them, and it just made me more confident treating patients that have special needs," said Dana Kossick, a graduate student at the School of Dentistry.
Students are exposed to patients with a variety of medical conditions, and both the student and a resident faculty member must review each patient's case individually in order to create the best treatment plan for the patient.
Patients with autism often need dentists to spend a great deal of time reassuring them that they are safe so they will be cooperative, Mulligan said.
"You want to approach [autistic patients] where they can see you, see what you're doing through your body language, voice and the things you say so they don't feel threatened or frightened," she said.
Because patients with autism also have a hard time dealing with unusual sights, smells or sounds, the treatment they receive at the Special Patients Clinic is catered to their needs.
"The Special Patients Clinic is on the first floor. It's a very private setting. When people come in, their needs are very specialized and we want them to feel comfortable when coming with their family members so we have individual offices for them," Urquijo said.
