University of Pennsylvania, USA

Disabilities can affect anyone at any time. In the United States alone, more than 61 million people are living with cognitive, developmental, or physical disabilities. Often, these individuals have difficulty finding a special needs dentist with the skills, equipment, and experience necessary to meet their dental needs.
This is one of the reasons why the University of Pennsylvania decided to plan their one-of-a-kind Care Center for Persons with Disabilities. There, patients with disabilities receive high-quality, customized services to help promote their long-term oral health.

The University has selected to partner with Dentsply Sirona to equip the operatories with treatment centers and X-ray units.

A long planning and consulting process involving specialists from the University and Dentsply Sirona’s International Special Clinic Solutions team ensured that all needs were met.

The fully accessible center now features 12 operatories, some of which are outfitted to comfortably treat patients on gurneys, a stimulation room with low lighting and sound baffling, wheelchair lifts, an orientation system for the visually impaired, a radiology room, and more.
All students at Penn Dental Medicine will gain direct experience treating patients in the Center and will be expertly trained to help support better dental care for people with special needs in the future.