A survey of dentists and the services they provide to disabled people in the Province of Manitoba.

Persons with disabilities occasionally report that dentists are reluctant to provide them with either dental care or necessary services. There is very little information about the kinds of services that Canadian dentists provide to disabled people. To answer this question, a mail survey, following Dillman's Total Design Method, was undertaken in Manitoba. Questionnaires were mailed to all dentists licensed to practise in Manitoba in 1990. A total of 342 surveys were returned, representing a 62 per cent response rate. In all, 259 (76 per cent) of respondents reported regularly providing dental care to disabled people of all ages who were afflicted by a broad range of disabling conditions. The private dental office was the primary location in which this dental care was provided, but 65 dentists (25 per cent) reported providing dental care in hospitals or other institutions such as nursing homes. Forty per cent of the dentists who reported treating disabled people were willing to accept referrals of new patients with disabilities. Dentists reported providing a full range of dental services to disabled people, and using similar modes of pain control for both disabled and non-disabled patients. The primary mechanism of payment was social assistance programs. Dentists reported that they received adequate compensation (defined as their usual and customary fee) in only 50 per cent of the cases in which they provided dental care to disabled patients. However, 27 per cent of the respondents reported always receiving their customary fee, and 52 per cent indicated that they would be willing to attend continuing education courses offered in the area of special patient care.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)