Oct. 18, 2025
Specialized Care
Pitt Dental Medicine’s Center for Patients with Special Needs is a unique place in the region, offering individualized care to patients who cannot access it anywhere else.
TOPICS: Impact | School of Dental Medicine
Designs on Aging-Ready
By Dan Ayer
When it comes to providing dental care to individuals with special health care needs, you need a specialized team of professionals.
That’s exactly what the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine has been doing—delivering this specialized care for more than 60 years.
By providing compassionate, comprehensive care to patients who might otherwise go without, Pitt Dental Medicine is reaching an often-underserved population.
This segment of the population often is unable to manage their own basic oral hygiene, and the need for quality, compassionate care is essential. Many dental providers lack the training, facilities or resources needed to serve patients with physical, cognitive and/or behavioral challenges. Patients travel from hours away for the unique facilities and care that are provided in the Center for Patients with Special Needs (CPSN).
“CPSN is seen as the end of the road for many of our patients,” says Lynne Taiclet, assistant professor and past director of CPSN (2009-24.)
“Every student graduates from Pitt Dental Medicine demonstrating competency in treating patients with special health care needs,” McKenzie explains. “This isn’t an elective.”
Craig McKenzie, assistant professor of dental anesthesiology and director, Center for Patients with Special Needs
What makes Pitt Dental Medicine’s approach unique is its integration of anesthesiology and multidisciplinary care. Dental anesthesia residents work alongside dental students and faculty, providing sedation when needed, allowing procedures to be done safely and comfortably.
The clinic is also designed for accessibility, ensuring people who use wheelchairs and other patients with mobility challenges can move through the space to get the care they need.
Craig McKenzie, assistant professor of dental anesthesiology and current director of the center, highlights the value of treating patients in their own wheelchair rather than transferring them to a dental chair. “How much more comfortable is that? For the patient to be in something that's more familiar to them rather than putting them in a whole new environment,” he said. “We can wheel them right into the dental operatory in their wheelchair and use our overhead lights and all of our equipment.”
Pitt Dental Medicine students at the clinic undergo didactic instruction and a structured orientation led by faculty, including a detailed review of individual patients. This helps ensure they are prepared clinically and are emotionally able to provide comprehensive care.
Learning to provide care for all patients isn’t an option; it’s a requirement. “Every student graduates from Pitt Dental Medicine demonstrating competency in treating patients with special health care needs,” McKenzie explains. “This isn’t an elective.”
For many students, working in the clinic is a transformative experience. “One of the most rewarding parts of working in CPSN is the feedback I receive from graduates that they are successfully providing dental care for those with disabilities as part of their practice,” Taiclet said.
For patients and caregivers, the impact is just as powerful. “It's not uncommon to get a hug from a patient or a caregiver after they've been searching for a way to get dental care for years,” McKenzie added.
Exposing students to a diverse patient population during their training is another way Pitt Dental Medicine is helping shape a future dental workforce that is well equipped to serve all patients.