Purpose: Because people living with environmental sensitivities are poorly acknowledged in our society, we still know very little about their experiences navigating in the health care system, especially with respect to dental services. Our objective, therefore, was to describe their dental care pathway and better understand their experiences accessing oral health services.
Materials and methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in partnership with organizations supporting people with environmental sensitivities. Through a criterion sampling technique, 12 people living with environmental sensitivities in Quebec (Canada) were invited to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. These interviews lasted around 90 min and were transcribed to be thematically analysed.
Results: Participants faced major barriers accessing dental services and thus lived for long periods of time with unmet dental needs. Their dental care pathways were often delayed or even interrupted for several reasons. First because they were exposed to pollutants upon leaving their house, which rendered their trip to the dentist perilous. Second because dentists lacked knowledge about environmental sensitivities and seemed reluctant to accommodate them.
Conclusions: We invite governments, dental professionals, and researchers to develop policies and clinical approaches for improving people living with environmental sensitivities' quality of life and access to dental services.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONAlthough environmental sensitivities are recognized as disability in several countries such as Sweden and Germany, people with these conditions face major barriers to access healthcare services.Dental professionals, for instance, are reluctant to acknowledge environmental sensitivities as a disability and seldom accommodate sufferers' special needs.We invite dentists to foster holistic and person-centered approaches and be receptive to the health conditions and needs of people with environmental sensitivities.Dentists could address oral health needs of people with environmental sensitivities by doing home-visits with portable dental equipment as this removes barriers related to their exposure to pollutants.
Keywords: Access to care; electromagnetic hypersensitivities; environmental sensitivities; multiple chemical sensitivities; oral healthcare; patient-centered care.