NEW DELHI: As the National Dental Commission (NDC) is revising the country’s dental curriculum, India can take the lead in introducing disability inclusive reforms that could influence the education of a substantial proportion of the future global oral health workforce, said an article.
With approximately one-third of the world’s dental schools located in India, the paper, published in the international journal Special Care Dentistry, said the time has come to move beyond the “special needs” label and towards equitable oral healthcare for all.
“Preparing disability-competent dentists is not a matter of special care - it is a matter of human rights, health equity, and professional competence,” said the article author, Dr Satendra Singh, Professor of the Department of Physiology, University College of Medical Sciences, Guru Teg Bahadur (UCMS-GTB) Hospital and a noted disability rights champion.
The paper said that, despite the World Health Assembly Resolution on Oral Health, few countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR) have revised their dental curricula or workforce policies to be disability-inclusive.
“Dental education must move beyond the “special care” paradigm. Historically, dental curricula have paid little attention to disability principles such as universal design, accessibility, and reasonable accommodation,” the paper said.
The paper suggested a template that can be adopted across the Region.
It lists that dental curriculum should highlight patient-centred care; professionalism by demonstrating respect for patients with disability and their caregivers; providing safe and effective clinical practice or communication; awareness about the different disabilities recognised under the national disabilities legislation and to keep abreast with updates and promote and research on disability, disabling conditions, their prevalence, oral health implications and management, thus contributing to the evidence base for disability health equity.
The authors, Dr Himanshu Dadlani, Principal Consultant Periodontist, Max Hospital, Gurugram, and Dr Singh, founder of Doctors with Disabilities: Agents of Change, a body of health professionals with disabilities for social justice, said the disability community remains one of the most significant yet overlooked equity-denied populations.
Globally,1.3 billion people, 16% or one in six, live with significant disability.
The WHO SEAR has the third-highest disability prevalence worldwide, with 15.6% of its population affected.
In 2019, the region - representing one-quarter of the global population - recorded the world’s highest number of oral disease cases, estimated at 903 million.
Citing the example from Korea, the authors said, people with disabilities experience markedly poorer oral health outcomes, including higher rates of dental caries, regardless of disability type.
“Disability receives only limited attention within the regional action plan, appearing as a footnote within broader references to high-risk, disadvantaged, and vulnerable populations,” it added.
Speaking with this paper, Dr Singh said, “A universally designed dental chair that benefits left-handed practitioners also improves accessibility for wheelchair users and enables dentists with disabilities - demonstrating that inclusive design is not “special,” but good design for everyone.”
The paper said all 11 SEAR member states have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), with India being among the earliest signatories.
In 2016, India enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPDA), while the same year the World Dental Federation and the International Association for Disability and Oral Health adopted their first-ever policy statement on oral health and disability.
This policy was subsequently revised and expanded in 2024 as Oral Health and Special Care Dentistry, incorporating rights-based approaches grounded in the UNCRPD.
“Yet disability competencies aligned with the right to the highest attainable standard of health remain largely absent from dental curricula across SEAR,” the article added.
The authors said the challenge is not in disability itself but in the design of dental systems and educational structures.