長者看牙不麻煩-特殊需求者牙科醫療服務示範中心分享

No Barriers in Oral Health Care for Older Adults: Experience at an Oral Health-Care Center for People with Special Needs

臺灣即將在2025年邁入超高齡社會(Super-Aged Society)，屆時470萬人以上65歲長者口腔照護是一個重要的議題。我國政府自2011年起，在臺灣北、中、南、東區各醫學中心或醫院，共成立7所特殊需求者牙科醫療服務示範中心。本文將就高齡者牙科就醫問題，提出以「特殊需求者口腔醫學科牙醫醫療服務」作為最新的服務模式，並就高齡者常見口腔問題，分享「臺大醫院特殊需求者牙科醫療服務示範中心」基於34年的實務經驗，並提供建議，期能在未來的高齡化社會挑戰中，協助特殊需求者牙科的醫療同業們，一起為高齡長者們提供完善的口腔醫療服務。

 

By 2025, Taiwan will have a super-aged society comprising approximately 4.7 million older adults. This increase is associated with an increased demand for oral health care. The Taiwanese Government has established a total of seven oral health-care centers for individuals with special needs. The first center was established in 2010; the centers are spread (north, middle, south, and east) across Taiwan. Older adults, particularly those with special needs, often experience several barriers when searching for dental service. Therefore, we developed a new model for providing dental service for these individuals. This article presents our 34-year clinical experience at an oral health-care center (National Taiwan University Hospital) for individuals with special needs. Our findings may help clinicians in the field of special care dentistry develop effective oral health programs for older adults with special needs.