Dentists at UCLA's Hospital Dentistry Clinic understand that special-needs patients often feel fearful about going to the dentist.
Her frustration reflects the unfortunate reality that few dentists possess the highly specialized skills required to serve special-needs patients. These patients are often declined by dentists and clinics that feel unprepared to serve them because they frequently have complicated, difficult-to-treat dental problems as well as anxiety about seeing a dentist.
Smith finally got the services her son needed at a UCLA School of Dentistry clinic in Westwood which specializes in treating patients with physical and mental disabilities as well as complex medical conditions. The Hospital Dentistry Clinic is the training site for dentistry residents, who have already earned their D.D.S. from U.S. or international universities. They are specializing in advanced comprehensive general dentistry in the Hospital Dentistry Program, part of the school’s Division of Advanced Prosthodontics. Training covers a wide range of highly skilled services, including periodontal therapy, restorative care, fixed prosthetics, removable prosthetics, surgery and endodontic therapy.
Demand for the UCLA clinic’s services is high. The clinic’s six residents, two full-time faculty members and several part-time faculty volunteers see hundreds of special-needs patients every year who are referred from Nevada, Arizona and from all over Southern California.
"We’re one of the leading dental care providers in the region for the special-needs population," said Dr. Eric Sung, professor of clinical dentistry and section chair of the Hospital Dentistry Program, as well as vice chair of the Division of Advanced Prosthodontics and program director of the General Practice Residency program. "This population is severely underserved and underfunded, so I’m glad that we can at least take care of a small portion of the patients who need dental care." 
Services are offered at substantially reduced rates compared to private clinics. Due to the educational setting, treatment plans can take longer to initiate than in private practice — to begin with, there’s a six-to-12-month waiting list for an initial appointment. But despite the wait, said Smith, "Once we were seen, I couldn’t be happier with our care and the quality of service."
Faculty members Dr. Eric Sung and Dr. Evelyn Chung.
The professional expertise required to treat a special-needs patient is matched by a plentitude of patience, said Dr. Evelyn Chung, associate clinical professor in the dental school's Section of Hospital Dentistry. A patient with a physical age of 35 but a mental age of only 3, for example, may become much more frightened than the average patient. "This requires a slower approach by the dentist and care team," Chung said, "to avoid possible injury to the patient or dental team." Some patients do best if their appointments are at a time when other patients aren’t around. And many require the involvement of reassuring family members right alongside them during treatment. In some cases, patients are treated under general anesthesia, which bumps things up to a whole new level requiring an operating room and staff at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.
In addition to oral health care, many patients need check-ups beyond the dental chair, from eye exams to visits to an obstetrician-gynecologist. Some have serious medical conditions in need of extensive attention.
"Dentists who treat this population never know what they’re getting into," said Dr. Chung. "Often they find themselves checking and monitoring conditions well beyond a patient’s teeth."
Learn more about the Hospital Dentistry Program here. Get the clinic’s location, hours of operation and contact information at this website, which describes all of the patient clinics offered by the School of Dentistry, including a Children’s Dental Center and the Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center.
