Restorative considerations for special needs patients.

Individuals are living longer with more chronic and disabling conditions than previous generations of adults. In addition, they are retaining more of their natural dentition than ever before. As a result, it will be common for a dentist in practice in the next 20 to 30 years to care for many patients with special needs. These individuals offer unique challenges to the dental practitioner. Dentists must be knowledgeable in the oral aspects of various medical conditions and the systemic manifestation of oral diseases. In addition to the oral medicine aspects of practice, dentists must be skilled clinically to care for the unique restorative needs with which these patients present. As individuals age or become chronically ill, people deserve the opportunity to select from all that modern dentistry has to offer. Patients must be involved intimately in the decision-making process. No dental professional should assume because a patient is old or chronically ill that he or she lacks the financial resources or the desire to maintain his or her oral health.