Institutional barriers to providing oral health services for underserved populations in New York City.

OBJECTIVES

We sought to explore institutional barriers to the provision of oral health services for the underserved among inner-city health centers.

METHODS

Mail-based survey of Medicaid-approved health centers in New York City without oral health services. The importance of four barrier categories was rated: resource issues, dental provider difficulties, referral problems, and low priority of dental care.

RESULTS

36 health centers completed the survey. The most important barriers were resource issues (66.7% agreed), dental provider difficulties (29.4%), referral problems (24.2%), and low priority (15.2%). Top individual barriers were lack of start-up funds (88%), lack of physical space (74%), lack of available funding sources (71%), and low reimbursement rates for dental services (69%). Most centers (78%) identified a need for dental services for their patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Access to oral health care remains a large problem for the underserved. Institutional barriers will need to be addressed to close the gap.