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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing |
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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing |
Chester W. Douglass, DMD, PhD, Frances M. Kim, DDS, MPH, and Michelle A. Graham, DMD, MHSE, MPH. Dental Service, Cambridge Health Alliance, 119 Windsor Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617-665-3990, chester_douglass@hsdm.harvard.edu
Access to health care is a basic human right. This should include access to dental care. But access to what kind of dental care? Expensive, advanced treatment, or prevention, which seems more effective in the long run? A model is presented that accounts for the important factors that determine the successful economic demand for dental care. The three primary categories are 1) factors that determine NEED, 2) factors that determine DEMAND, and 3) factors that determine SUPPLY. There are many ways to reduce the NEED, increase the DEMAND, and improve the SUPPLY for dental care. There is not a single best solution to the access problem. Fifty programs and strategies are presented that public health professions can use to improve access to dental care. By improving various components of the delivery system (SUPPLY) such as provider types and practice setting locations; increasing the ability to pay (DEMAND) such as targeting high risk groups with public and private dental insurance programs; increasing awareness of the importance of oral health (DEMAND) with public education campaigns; and employing numerous strategies for prevention (NEED) through the use of new technologies for early prevention and high risk group identification, access to oral health can be improved. Public health programs need to include efforts in all three areas.
Learning Objectives: At the end of the sessions, the participant will be able to
Keywords: Oral Health,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Not Answered
The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA