Premium
Wicked problems: policy contradictions in publicly financed dental care
Author(s) -
Quiñonez Carlos
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2012.00360.x
Subject(s) - politics , dental care , sustainability , public policy , business , public relations , wicked problem , public administration , public economics , medicine , economics , political science , family medicine , law , economic growth , management , ecology , biology
Objectives: To review two policy issues that define publicly financed dental care as a “wicked policy problem.” Methods: Historical review. Results: By demonstrating how governments have shifted their funding focus from direct delivery care, to public third‐party financing arrangements in private dental offices, and by their willingness to fund composite restorations in public fee schedules, it is clear that the logic and sustainability of public programming needs reconsideration. Conclusions: The current contradictions in public dental care programs speak to the need for policy makers to reassess their goals, and ask whether decisions are based more on political necessity than on a logical evidence‐informed approach to the delivery of publicly financed dental care.