Survey of Dental Services to People with Learning Disabilities in Northern Ireland

There are many definitions used to determine both biomedical and sociological disability. In their International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (2001), the World Health Organisation defines disability as, ‘The outcome of the interaction between a person with an impairment and the environmental and attitudinal barriers he/she may face.’The medical model of disability focuses efforts towards treatment and rehabilitation, directed primarily by medical professionals. The social model focuses on the inadequacies of social environmental and economic factors of society (D’Eath