Ras Al Khaimah’s College of Dental Sciences is to establish the UAE’s first dental clinic to provide care exclusively for patients with special needs.
The facility, which is due to be completed in December 2009, will also provide training for undergraduate students in the techniques required to care for such patients.
Dean of the college, professor Ramananda Prabhu, said that students will be encouraged to dedicate three months of their internship year to working at the clinic, in an attempt to provide practical, hands-on experience of working with special needs patients.
The college hopes to offer small certificate courses for existing practitioners in the UAE and ultimately create a full-time diploma or master’s degree.
Commenting on the centre’s future patient base, Prabhu said; “These people are being denied treatment for a number of reasons. Either the dentist is not fully equipped with the training…or their facilities are not set up to accept them adequately.
“I don’t believe that many dentists see this area as a very lucrative one.”
The move has been welcomed by local disability and special needs groups. Mohammed Al Emadi, general manager of the Dubai Autism Centre (DAC), applauded the foresight of the college.
“While some clinics offer a half-hearted attempt at such a service, until there is sustainable treatment in place there is always going to be an issue,” he said.
“Those dentists that are interested in working with…people with autism should at least have some kind of orientation programme on [the] behavioural aspects,” he said.
“This could be done here at the DAC. We could bridge this gap and work together with [the college] to prepare the people that will treat these children.”
Wayne Boyle, managing director of Abu Dhabi-based access and mobility consultant, Disabled Access UAE, commented: “It’s a marvellous concept – it is about time this issue was addressed.”
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