Auxiliary devices for management of special needs patients during in-office dental treatment or at-home oral care

Abstract

Special needs patients often have features or limitations that limit their cooperation with in-office dental treatment or at-home oral care. This paper addresses the use of some auxiliary devices, such as physical restraint bands, Godoy’s device, “Grandma’s pants”, “The Worm” and mouth gags and mouth props. These auxiliary devices are intended to aid the dental treatment in office and outpatient settings with increased comfort for both the patient and the professional and the oral homecare provided by parents/caregivers. Pediatric dentists should have knowledge of auxiliary devices that might be helpful during dental treatment of special needs patients and instruct the use these resources to parents/caregivers for maintaining a good-quality oral homecare of these patients.