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Oral health outcomes in an adult dental population: the impact of payment systems
Author(s) -
Durham Timothy M.,
King Kenneth A.,
Salama Fouad S.,
Lange Brian M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-4505.2009.00095.x
Subject(s) - medicine , medicaid , recall , oral health , payment , disadvantaged , population , family medicine , dental care , audit , public health , health care , environmental health , gerontology , nursing , finance , linguistics , philosophy , management , political science , law , economics , economic growth
This study compared the effect of payment systems on recall visits and oral health outcomes for four patient payer groups. The authors reviewed recall audit data obtained over a 4‐year period. Dental payer groups in the study population differed with respect to dental outcomes. Patients who had recall visits at 1 year or longer had worse outcomes than patients seen more frequently. A Medicaid subgroup with the greatest number of risk factors displayed improved oral health outcomes when seen on a more frequent recall schedule. Study findings suggest that, given the increased risks to maintaining oral health, patients being supported by public‐funded programs would benefit from more frequent recalls. Such an emphasis would appear to provide the opportunity to improve outcomes in disadvantaged populations and increase the quality of care offered.