Special Care Dentistry

Sobia Rafique
Special Care Dentistry MSc
The Department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry provides a stimulating environment for postgraduate students to gain experience and to enhance their confidence in treating a challenging group of patients. These patients find it difficult to access dental treatment for various reasons, usually related to their dental anxiety or their medical/psychosocial history.
The MSc in Sedation and Special Care Dentistry is a well established programme. Having completed the programme myself, and benefited from it career wise, I am in a position to help promote it. I obtained a Senior Dental Officer post in the community dental service on completion of this MSc and am now a Senior Clinical Teacher within the department.

For me, the most rewarding aspect of the programme is its unique holistic approach to patient care with regards to its sedation and clinical components. It encompasses all dental disciplines in managing patients with complex requirements. In particular, the programme is designed to enhance a practitioner's confidence in a subject where there is an increasing demand for training.
The existing programme includes elements of the recommended training programme 'Training in Special Care Dentistry' by the Joint Advisory Committee for Special Care Dentistry (JACSD). MSc students have access to specialist clinics such as haemophilia, oncology, epidermolysis bullosa as Guys and St Thomas' Foundation Trust is the regional centre for these disciplines. There are also opportunities to visit external clinics including the Royal Hospital of Neurodisability and community clinics.