title: Special Olympics, special smiles: assessing the feasibility of epidemiologic data collection.
abstract: No comprehensive national study has ever been completed on the oral health status of people with disabilities, their patterns of use of oral health services and access-to-care barriers. The authors describe the Special Olympics, Special Smiles program, conducted as part of the New Jersey Summer Special Olympics Games, and assess a pilot-tested model for collecting epidemiologic data. The results of this initial data collection are also compared with the goals of the U.S. Public Health Service, as outlined in the Healthy People 2000 publication.
authors.affiliation: General and Hospital Dentistry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental School, Newark 07103, USA.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giniger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saporito
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Zohn
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Perlman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003792:Dental Records; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006293:Health Promotion; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D008297:Male; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009064:Mouth Protectors; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013177:Sports; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States; D014492:United States Public Health Service / Q000458:organization & administration