Abstract:

Introduction:
According to the World Health Organization by 2020, more than 1 billion people worldwide live with some type of disability, approximately 15% of the world's population (1). The oral diseases of patients with disabilities are the same as those of the general population, and they usually present in a more severe form, due to poor oral hygiene derived from the disability itself and/or from the effects on oral tissues of the drugs prescribed because of their condition (2). The concept of patients with disabilities includes information on the characteristics of the population with some limitation in activity by sex, as well as the condition of affiliation to health services (3).
Patients with disabilities do not have easy access to knowledge about self-care and health in general; they report poor experiences and distrust in primary health care services. Regarding oral health care, they have less accessibility to dental services that guarantee optimal dental health (4).
Dental care for patients with disabilities obliges the dentist to carry out complex processes such as obtaining additional knowledge and interdisciplinary work, in spite of which there is a serious thought that all the material objects in the dental office will replace the knowledge with which to face the daily challenges in the area of work (5).
The objective was to identify the training needs of dentists for the care of patients with disabilities.

Methodology:
Cross-sectional, non-experimental, descriptive, correlational, comparative and qualitative study of a sample of 125 dentists in Veracruz, which was applied to a sample of 125 dentists.

Results:
Of the sample surveyed, 74% were female and 26% male. In relation to the age ranges, 35% belonged to the group of 31-40 years, 30% to the group of 20-30 years, 51 years and over represented by 21% and lastly the group of 41-50 years with 14%. In relation to the reason why dentists do not attend to patients with disabilities, 70% of dentists responded that they did not receive academic training during their school years, 10% do not know how to attend to them, 10% do not have the time and patience and 10% responded that they do attend to them even though they had previously responded that they did not do so. 98% of the total number of those surveyed consider it important for the dentist's academic training to include inclusive subjects in this area, 2% do not consider it important. Likewise, 78% of the respondents consider that dental care can be provided by any dentist if they receive training in their academic training, while 22% answered the opposite.

Conclusions:
The respondents recognize the importance of academic training within the dental school curriculum so that skills are developed in situations in which this population is cared for.

Recommendations:
It is suggested that higher education in dental schools should be inclusive, providing academic experiences in which the first encounter with patients from this group is provided, since it was determined that this is the reason why many dentists do not attend to patients with disabilities.

Keywords:

dental training, patients with disabilities, care for patients with disabilities.