Ramos-Rodríguez Cálix, Schwartz Mark D, Rogers Vincent, Alos Victor
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center/Lutheran Medical Center, 356 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011, USA.
J Public Health Dent. 2004 Winter;64(1):55-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2004.tb02727.x.
We sought to explore institutional barriers to the provision of oral health services for the underserved among inner-city health centers.
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.
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.
Access to oral health care remains a large problem for the underserved. Institutional barriers will need to be addressed to close the gap.
