Part 1: Transition care for patients with special needs
The 4h workshop is designed to provide participants in understanding what is involved in caring for young adults with special needs. The workshop will commence with a lecture to provide some background into special needs dentistry for people with special needs. Focus will be on addressing people with syndromes, and people with autism. The workshop will then break into case example discussion. There will be some case studies from the speaker. It is intended that participants should bring along some case examples for general discussion.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understanding how to take an adequate medical and social history for people with special needs
- Understand the core principles in providing safe care for people with syndromes
- How to support people with autism in accessing dental care
- Case examples will enrich understanding transition care, and allow participants to learn how to tailor their dental care to this population
Presenter biography
Dr Candy Fung
DCD (SND) BDent (Hons) BSc (Adv) (Hons) FANZASND
Dr Candy Fung graduated from the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (Special Needs Dentistry) at the University of Queensland in 2023. She is one of 5 practising specialists in SND in Queensland, with 30 in Australia.
She runs her private practice, Dr Candy SND out of Tooth Town, a paediatric dental practice at Coorparoo. This is the first private practice in Queensland providing transition care for young adults with special needs. She is also a dental specialist with Metro South Oral Health.
Her research interests is on teledentistry in residential aged care. She has published a paper, and her research has won a Young Career research award at the International Association for Disability & Oral Health (iADH) congress in 2024.
Part 2: The role of sedation techniques in managing patients with special needs
Participants will learn about all of the available sedation techniques - some of which they may be able to use themselves and others that require a referral to a specialist. These will include oral sedation, nitrous oxide, intravenous sedation and general anaesthetic. The speaker will help you to understand limitations of what can be done in general practice and pathways of referral
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Sharing what can be achieved with sedation using case studies
- Limitations of sedation and when general anaesthetic is more suitable.
- Screening patients for sedation to prevent unsuitable referrals that result in failure.
- Financial implications of failed sedation
Presenter biography
Dr Sarah Higham
Sarah graduated from Guy’s Hospital in London in 1993.
Having spent five years in general practice, she returned to complete her Dental Sedation Diploma. After a few years of teaching sedation at Guy’s Hospital she moved to Australia, working at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, where she taught the Sedation Diploma Programme.
Now based on the Sunshine Coast, Sarah operates a mobile IV Sedation Service providing care to a wide range of patients.
Since 2022 she has served as ASDA Secretary, a role she enjoys for the opportunity to stay engaged with current practices across Australia and to support the profession.
Sarah has over thirty years of experience in treating a diverse range of patients under sedation. She also enjoys sharing the highs and lows of her long career through lecturing and mentoring students.
By registering for this course, you agree to the events terms and conditions outlined on the ADAQ website.