Welcome to NICHE-Dental, an IDD curriculum toolkit customizable for your school.

NICHE is an acronym for National Inclusive Curriculum for Health Education - and here at AADMD inclusive curriculum is our niche.

This off-the-shelf curriculum provides foundational knowledge about individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), preparing future graduates to care for those with IDD, a population that is greatly underserved, aging and faced with oral health as the most unmet health need.

Ready to get started? Choose your access below.

About NICHE-Dental

NICHE-Dental was started in 2022 by Dr. David Fray  from UT Health Houston and Dr. Allen Wong from University of Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry.

With a grant from the Delta Dental Foundation and the encouragement of Dean John Valenza (UTHSC) and Dean Nader Nadershahi (Pacific Dugoni), Drs Fray and Wong recruited over 90 IDD expert authors across 22 dental schools.

For the pdf chapters, we are proud to partner with Rick Guidotti of Positive Exposure. His photography not only elevates the work product portraying people with IDD in their “best light,” but helps healthcare providers see the person’s humanity instead of just a diagnosis.

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What’s inside

Available Now

Section 1

Embracing the Challenge of Health Disparity

6 parts // 12 chapters

This section covers the basic landscape of IDD Healthcare from the history of disparities and terminology to government advocacy and financing/ cost savings.

Coming Dec 2024

Coming Jan 2025

Section 2

Improving Health Outcomes with Collaborative Care

4 parts // 23 chapters

This section outlines the Collaborative Care model and what that looks like across the lifespan. Areas of focus include Dental Transitions, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Nursing, Allied Health, Occupational/Physical Therapy, Social Work, Speech Therapy, Behavioral Therapy and more.

Section 3

Resources

10 parts // 27 chapters

This section provides helpful tools, case studies, accreditation standards, like-minded professional IDD organizations, mapping tools and more to give learners a broader range of resources to continue their IDD educational journey.

Table of Contents

  • 1.1.1 Health Disparities and History of Treatment for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)

    1.1.2 History of Terminology and Current Etiquette

    1.1.3 Social Determinants of Health

    1.1.4 Sexual/Physical Abuse & Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities…Where Have We Been and Where Should We Go?

    1.2.1 History of Education for Professionals in the Care of Persons with I/DD

    1.2.2 The Five Essential Concepts

    1.2.3 Diagnostic Overshadowing: A Primer

    1.3.1 The Challenge of Aging Patients with Cognitive Disability

    1.4.1 Defining the Population Across Government and Culture

    1.5.1 Differentiate Interprofessional Education Guidelines in Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry

    1.6.1 Financing Oral Health Care for Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD)

    1.6.2 Cost Savings

  • 2.1.1 Introduction to Collaborative Care

    2.1.2 Special Health Care Needs Dental Clinic Collaborative Care Model

    2.1.3 Patient/Caregiver Perspective - Danny and Sujeet’s Story

    2.2.1 Pediatric Dental Specialty Care

    2.2.2 Oral Health and Aging Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)

    2.2.3 Dental Anesthesia

    2.2.4 Dental Transitions of Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs

    2.3.1 Developmental Pediatrics

    2.3.2 Developmental Adolescent to Young Adult Medicine

    2.3.3 Neurology - Common neurological complications and its Impact upon oral health Care

    2.3.4 Pharmacy

    2.3.5 Nursing

    2.3.6 The Impact of Tobacco and Nicotine Products on the Oral and Overall Health of Diverse Patient Populations

    2.4.1 Allied Health Care

    2.4.2 Defining the Interprofessional Team

    2.4.3 Emotional Barriers to Care

    2.4.4 Cognitive and Communication Barriers to Care

    2.4.5 Sensory Barriers to Care

    2.4.6 Motor Barriers to Care

    2.4.7 Occupational/Physical Therapy

    2.4.8 Social Work

    2.4.9 Speech Therapy

    2.4.10 Behavioral Barriers to Care

  • 3.1.1 Table of Disorders

    3.2.1 AADMD VGR Case Studies with Testing Materials

    3.3.1 Protocols for Care and Standards of Care for Education

    3.3.2 Special Needs: Accredidation Standrds and Predoctoral Dental Education

    3.3.3 Sensory Accommodations

    3.4.1 Credentialing of Health Care Providers

    3.4.2 AADMD

    3.4.3 SCDA

    3.4.4 ABDM

    3.4.5 ABDD

    3.4.6 Immersive Simulation/Standardized Patient OSCE

    3.4.7 IADH

    3.5.1 Curriculum Mapping Tools

    3.5.2 IPE for Geriatric and I/DD Education: Dental School (Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA))

    3.5.3 Nursing School

    3.5.4 Medical Schools - American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)

    3.6.1 Developing a Predoctoral Clinical I/DD Rotation

    3.6.2 Samples - STSU

    3.6.3 Samples - University of Pacific

    3.6.4 UT School of Dentistry

    3.6.5 UNMC

    3.7.1 Telehealth

    3.7.2 Virtual Dental Home

    3.7.3 Teledentistry

    3.7.4 TACT

What People are Saying

Hear from learners & institutions that piloted NICHE-Dental Curriculum.

This curriculum will equip current and future dentists with a more comprehensive understanding, fostering an inclusive and humanistic approach to treating patients with IDD
— Alini Student, UOP, Dugoni School of Dentistry
This curriculum project will level the playing field and raise the quality of education for all students and residents.
— Nader A. Nadershahi, DDS, MBA, EdD Dean UOP, Dugoni School of Dentistry
As a senior, this has been a great experience and allowed us dental students experience interacting with a new population.
— Ethan Enneking ‘24 UTHealth Houston, School of Dentistry
Using the new NICHE curriculum chapters has given me confidence to serve adults with IDD after I graduate.
— Christine Anusim ’24 UTHealth Houston, School of Dentistry

Have questions, suggestions or comments?

Contact our team

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