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Abstract #163835

Sophie Arpin¹, Jean-Marc Brodeur², Christophe Bedos³, Mike Benigeri⁴, and Jean-Paul Lussier¹. (1) Université de Montreal, 13 Andre-Beauregard, Vercheres, QC J0L 2R0, Canada, 450-583-5769, sophie.arpin@umontreal.ca, (2) Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Universite de Montreal, Pavillon 1420 boul. Mont-Royal, Montréal, QC H2V 4P3, Canada, (3) Faculty of Dentistry, Public Health Division, McGill University, 3640 University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B2, Canada, (4) Centre montréalais d’information sanitaire, Université de Montreal, 3725 rue St-Denis, Montreal, QC H2X 3L9, Canada

Introduction: In Quebec (Canada), welfare recipients benefit from public insurance that covers their basic dental care. In spite of this coverage and major needs for care, these individuals rarely visit the dentist. To justify this low level of recourse to dental care, welfare recipients explain that they often have negative experiences at the dentist's office and that they sometimes feel stigmatized by oral health care providers. Objectives: The objective of this research was to determine how dentists' perceptions of their under-privileged patients impact clinical practices in terms of socio-organizational accessibility, dentist-patient communication and fee adjustment. Methods: This quantitative research used data already collected in the framework of the Dental Practice in Quebec 2006 study under the direction of the Ordre des dentistes du Québec in October 2006. Descriptive as well as logistic regression analyses of the data were carried out. Results: The sample consisted of 1,007 general practitioner dentists in private practice (response rate of 29.1%). 52.5% of the dentists have negative perceptions about the personality of their under-privileged patients and 58.2% about their behaviors. 34.6% frequently restrict socio-organizational accessibility, 14.1% never offer to adjust their fees and 90.5% frequently explain the treatment plans in detail to them. The younger the dentist, the more frequent clinical practice of exclusion is. Conclusion: It would be useful to include the issue of poverty and access to care in the dental curriculum in order to modify Dentists' clinical practices towards under-privileged patients and to improve access to the dental services.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify two dentists’ perceptions of their under-privileged patients.
• List three clinical dental practices of exclusion.
• Recognize how dentists’ perceptions of their under-privileged patients impact clinical practices in terms of socio-organizational accessibility, dentist-patient communication and fee adjustment.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.