Preventing dental disease for people with special needs: the need for practical preventive protocols for use in community settings.

People with disabilities have more dental disease, more missing teeth, and more difficulty receiving dental care than other members of the general population. Because of the deinstitutionalization movement during the later 20th century, many formerly institutionalized people now reside in community settings, which lack oral health services. Even individuals who were not institutionalized have barriers to oral health services. These realities underscore the importance of preventing dental disease in people with special needs by establishing preventive dental disease protocols.