Social justice in oral health: Ensuring access to care for people with HIV

Oral health care is an essential yet often unmet need for underserved and underinsured populations in the US. This is a social justice issue that requires national attention from not only policy makers, but oral health providers, public health workers and the general public. This unmet need is extensive in the HIV population and has been widely documented. This session will provide information about how social justice can be promoted by increasing access to oral health care for persons living with HIV and share the results from the multisite evaluation identifying the structural and personal barriers to oral health care that lead to poor dental care utilization, lower literacy about oral hygiene and health, and higher unmet needs. Strategies will be presented for promoting greater access that can reduce the disparity within this population. The 3 panelists will present the following topics: 1. A lack of access to oral health care leading to dissatisfaction with a patients' appearance can severely impact their sense of worth and self-confidence. This subset is more likely to avoid going out and experience more pain and distress due to their oral health status. 2. Oral health beliefs, attitudes and practices may be associated with limited access to oral health access. The presentation will share strategies from HRSA/SPNS programs to address barriers to care and improve oral health knowledge and practices. 3. The presentation will discuss factors associated with improved oral health outcomes in this cohort and success of income generation model for community-based service providers.