Dental care for special needs patients: a survey of Texas pediatric dentists.

The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of time Texas pediatric dentists spent, as both residents and in their professional position, in the treatment of special needs patients. In addition, an attempt was made to determine the dental services offered to these patients along with the barriers to obtaining care. A survey was mailed to the 334 members of the Texas Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. From the returned surveys (61.9% or 207/334) the following conclusions were drawn: 1) Most respondents had a significant portion of their training program devoted to special patient care, 2) Virtually all reported treating some special needs patients in their professional position, 3) Most provided conscious sedation and general anesthesia and adjuncts to behavior management for these patients, 4) Insufficient financial reimbursement was a major reason cited for not providing dental services to more of these patients.