Association for Dental Education in Europe

Learning together to improve oral health and quality of life

Reimagining patients with disabilities in students case mix - why, when, how, who...

Thursday, 21st August 2025 - 15:45 to 17:15
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Timezone: 

Dublin (IST, UTC+1)

Venue: 

McNabb TCDBS

Session type: 
Type 2: Organised, planned and delivered by a subgroup, special interest group, community of practice of ADEE
Pre-register as part of your ADEE 2025 meeting registration
Session synopsis: 
At the invitation of Professor Alison Dougall Dublin Dental University Hospital's, Consultant for Medically Complex Patients and former President of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health our session focuses on the importance of inclusion of patients with disabilities in students case mix. 

Inequalities in oral health experienced by people with disabilities are unjust, unfair and unnecessary. This is in part due to reduced access to necessary oral health care in the community and lack of inclusive or targeted preventive oral health promotion initiatives.  Unfortunately, evidence continues to show that students receive inadequate levels of exposure to disability during their training. This leaves them with without the necessary attitudes, skills or confidence to adapt and personalise care towards a more diverse population following graduation.

This session will discuss the barriers and facilitators to including disability in the students case-max and evaluate good practice from three progressive universities across Europe. The Expert Panel of educators  will discuss a stepwise approach to introducing effective and rights based education in Special Care Dentistry across the Curriculum. (SCD).

The seminar is suitable from those who are already active in education and SCD or are planning to introduce it into their curriculum and wish to learn why, what, when or how.

 

This session is kindly supported by Dentsply Sirona.

Programme: 

Prof Alison Dougall (Ireland)
Learning from the past and planning for the future.
Facilitators and Barriers to education in SCD.

Dr Caoimhin Mac Giolla Phadraig (Ireland)
Innovations from Dublin’s undergraduate curriculum in Special Care Dentistry, highlighting practical approaches to inclusive, rights-based dental education.

Dr Jacobo Limeres Posse (Spain)
Classroom to Clinic: Exposure to Disability in Dental Training: Insights from Santiago de Compostela University.

Dr Denise Faulks (France)
Evaluation of the impact of both limited and extensive clinical exposure to special care dentistry on undergraduate dental students.

Followed by Panel Discussion - Q and A
Chair: 

Alison Dougall

Professor and Consultant in Special Care Dentistry
Dublin Dental University Hospital, Trinity College Dublin

Alison Dougall is Professor and Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Dublin Dental Hospital. She is head of the Department of Child and Dental Public Health at Trinity College Dublin and for the past 30 years has taught Special Care Dentistry to the whole dental team at undergraduate, postgraduate and specialist doctorate level.

She lead the International Group that developed guidelines for teaching SCD at undergraduate leave and led the special interest group on SCD education for 6 years as part of ADEE to facilitate curriculum development and evaluate its uptake. She is the author of Clinical Special Care Dentistry which is a recognised core text for undergraduate students and in 2021 won the John Tomes Gold Medal awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of England for the International Impact of her body of work. She is former President of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health (iADH). In 2017 she won the HMI Health Leader of Ireland award for her work designing care pathways for people with complex medical conditions.

Today Alison will chair the session on Education in SCD and will focus on necessary steps required to ensure that students are equipped with the skills and attitudes to treat people with disability in their community upon graduation. She will introduce a number of resources available to guide and assist educators and suggest a step wise approach to introducing diversity and complexity into the student case-mix.

Speakers: 

Jacobo Limeres Posse

Associate Professor
University of Santiago de Compostela: School of Medicine and Dentistry in Spain

Jacobo is Associate Professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela: School of Medicine and Dentistry in Spain and Former Vice-Dean for Dental Studies (2017-2020) and Vice-Dean for University Quality (2020-2022). He is the co-director of 15 PhD Thesis and is a full-time clinical and academic teacher of Special Care Dentistry (2010 to present.) He is a member of the Dental Degree Commission, University Quality Commission, Posgraduate Studies Commission and Students exchange commission and is the immediate past chair of the Education Commitee of the International Association of Disability and Oral Health (iADH).

Caoimhin Mac Giolla Phadraig

Lecturer in Special Care Dentistry
Dublin Dental University Hospital, Trinity College Dublin

Caoimhin is a  Lecturer in Special Care Dentistry at Dublin Dental University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, with a focus on advancing inclusive dental education and improving care for people with disabilities. His research focuses on transforming how Special Care Dentistry and Behaviour Support are taught at undergraduate  level. This includes studies on curriculum design, student attitudes, autism-friendly dental education, clinical resilience, empathy, and the integration of evidence-based practice into everyday care. Caoimhin is committed to participatory education, involving students and people with disabilities as co-creators of teaching content, assessment strategies, and research priorities. He aims to build a future dental workforce that is skilled, compassionate, and equipped to deliver equitable care.

At ADEE Dublin, he looks forward to sharing innovations from Dublin’s undergraduate curriculum in Special Care Dentistry, highlighting practical approaches to inclusive, rights-based dental education.

Denise Faulks

Registered specialist in Special Care Dentistry
University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, France

Denise Faulks, BDS MSc PhD HDR, is a registered specialist in Special Care Dentistry in both France and the UK. She is a consultant at the Special Care Dental Unit of the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, France where she runs services for patients with disability and complex medical conditions. This practice involves ensuring the right environment to enable conservative and rehabilitative treatment to the highest possible standard in order to maintain maximal oral capacity. She is a senior researcher at the Centre for Clinical Research in Odontology of the University of Clermont Auvergne (CROC UCA), publishing over 60 international articles in this field. She provides teaching in Special Care Dentistry and conscious sedation at the University of Clermont Auvergne, at undergraduate, postgraduate and specialist training levels. She was co-author of the iADH Curriculum Guidelines for undergraduate special care dentistry and is past Chair of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health (iADH). She is a member of the French, Irish and British associations for oral health and disability.

At the SCD seminar Denise will describe evaluation of the impact of both limited and extensive clinical exposure to special care dentistry on undergraduate dental students. The curriculum in University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, includes 36 hours of didactic study spread over the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of study. The majority of students gain little clinical exposure, attending two half-days of clinical observation in their 5th year. Approximately 10% of students choose an optional special care dentistry module in their 4th and 5th years, attending the SCD clinic one day a week over two years. She will describe two qualitative studies, performed to explore the impact of each clinical training pathway on the perception of SCD, the intentions and the subsequent practice of undergraduate students

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