Life Changing dental care
for the underserved
Dental care for the mentally impaired
Special Needs Dental Patients (SNDP) are a greatly underserved portion of the population here in Cambodia. Dr Magnus, an Adjunct Faculty at the University of Puthisastra in Phnom Penh concentrates in the treatment of SNDP here in Cambodia and in the USA. Among other things, he helps staff the Special Needs dental clinic. Dr Magnus reports that this is a great problem there as well as worldwide.
SNDP are often difficult or impossible to treat in the traditional dental setting due to lack of cooperation or complex medical conditions. For this reason, treatment is often performed under General Anesthesia in the operating room of a hospital. Many less complicated cases can be treated successfully in dental clinics with special skills and often with the aid of Intravenous (IV) Sedation. Unfortunately, this opportunity is not currently widely available to most patients due to the lack of trained dental professionals in this field.
Dental patients with Special Needs are seen in the clinic at Dental Hospital 1 with the aid of IV Sedation under the expert care of Anesthesiologist Dr. In Sovutheara, Dr Magnus, and two of his advanced students. Patients are carefully chosen for this procedure to ensure safety, and Dr Magnus feels that many more SNDP can be successfully treated in our clinics when properly selected. This will give the handicapped citizens of Cambodia greater access to advanced care and give the future dentists of Cambodia opportunities to learn these valuable skills while raising everyone’s awareness regarding these challenges.
University of Puthisastra was one of several dental schools that signed the Phnom Penh Initiative in 2022; a pledge to increase access to care for SNDP. UP has been doing this for several years in the hospital setting and now be first school to honor this pledge to serve them right here in the UP clinic!
Providing dental treatments under anesthesia is more costly than in the traditional setting. Currently, AFC helps support a Special Needs Dental Fund at the university. Your donations to AFC can help support this greatly needed service that many of Cambodia’s disabled patients can’t afford.
