Sun, Mar 29, 2026 page3

• Dentists with special-needs training needed: experts

  DUAL SPECIALITIES: Students should specialize in special-needs dentistry in addition to their main focus, as demand for the role has increased, an expert said

  • By Lin Chih-yi, Lo Pi and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  Demand for dentists trained to help elderly people and those with special needs is not being met, so dentistry students should be encouraged to take on dual academic specialties, said Chen Hsin-ming (陳信銘), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s (NTUH) Oral Health Care Center for Special Needs.

  Special-needs dentistry covers several areas, including care for people with physical or mental disabilities, people with systemic conditions such as cancer or hypertension, pregnant women and long-term care recipients, Chen said.

  Demand for dentists who specialize in those areas has increased, but positions frequently go unfilled, he said.

  

  A dentist examines a patient while an assistant looks on in an undated photograph in Yunlin County.

  Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times

  Students should plan to obtain “dual specialties,” adding special-needs dentistry to another area, he said.

  Most dental treatment focuses primarily on the condition of the patient’s teeth, treatment techniques and instrument use, but special-needs dentistry requires dentists to devote significant effort to behavioral guidance and patient assistance, Chen said.

  For students, these aspects can seem relatively abstract and provide limited immediate sense of achievement, making them more likely to prefer specialties with lower risk and higher income, he said.

  “Two years ago, only NTUH trained new specialists in special-needs dentistry, while nobody signed up for courses at other hospitals,” he said.

  Special-needs treatments, as well as equipment related to chewing and swallowing, have been developed in the past few years, and courses have been designed to attract more young professionals, Chen said.

  Most government policy planning relies mainly on the views of the Taiwan Dental Association, but the association’s structure — composed mainly of dentists in private practice — differs from what happens at a typical hospital, he said.

  The perspectives and expectations of private practitioners regarding the development of national health policy might differ from those of hospital-based dentists, he said, adding that the government should pay more attention to views from academia.

  Separately, Chiang Meng-ling (蔣孟玲), head of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said students who enter special-needs dentistry are likely already prepared for relatively limited income.

  Most students are unlikely to limit their specialty training to a special-needs qualification, Chiang said.

  Efforts should be made to enable students to develop two or more specialties, giving them flexibility in their practice, she said.

  Chiang said that she has specialist qualifications in oral pathology, pediatric dentistry and special-needs dentistry.

  Hopefully, Taiwan can introduce more incentives and create a better environment for dentists willing to work in special-needs care, which would help retain talent, she said.

  Chang Yung-min (張雍敏), director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Department of Oral Health, said that Taiwan has about 633 certified specialists in special-needs dentistry.

  No one entered the training program in 2023, four people joined in 2024 and six joined last year, Chang said.

  The government would continue to promote policies to promote the specialist area in a “steady and pragmatic” manner, she said.
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