ABSTRACT Background Dental professionals experience challenges that impact on their willingness to treat patients with disabilities and additional health care needs, resulting in poorer access to dental care and unmet treatment needs. Method Fifty‐eight public‐sector oral health professionals responded to an online survey. They responded to questions about the barriers they encountered when treating patients with disabilities and additional healthcare needs and their preferences for support. Results Clinicians reported environment‐related factors to have the greatest impact on treatment of patients with intellectual and physical disabilities (94.8%). Clinician‐related barriers were the least reported (67.2%). Participants felt that having greater flexibility in appointments and support from more experienced clinicians would be most likely to encourage clinicians to treat these patients. Most (83.0%) were interested in developing their skills and knowledge. Conclusions There is significant opportunity for additional supports for clinicians to improve access to dental care for people with special healthcare needs.
Lim et al. (Thu,) studied this question.