Over the last 20 years, Dr. Kumar has been committed to special care dentistry (SCD) and has acquired an extensive range of clinical, teaching, and research experience in the area to ensure the delivery of high-quality oral care for people with an impairment or disability. She was appointed as a consultant in special care dentistry (SCD) at UCLH in 2007 and has since been actively expanding the service to build a unit that is known for excellence and commitment to training and development.
Dr. Kumar has considerable expertise in the clinical management of the medically compromised patient and the management of the oral complications of systemic diseases. Furthermore, she has an integral role in training others with an interest in SCD, including those undertaking the certificate, diploma and masters in SCD. She is actively involved in the promotion of SCD and the development of national and international oral care guidelines and protocols, including those focused on patients with cancer, thalassaemia, sickle cell disease, renal disease/transplantation and dementia. Furthermore, she co-authored one of the first textbooks on SCD (‘Special Care in Dentistry’), which provides practical guidance on the safe dental management of patients with special needs, and has recently co-edited another textbook (‘A Practical Approach to Special Care Dentistry’) which was released in 2022.
Topic of lecture:
Dental Management of the Medically Compromised Patient