Leake James L
Departmentof Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1G6.
J Can Dent Assoc. 2006 May;72(4):317.
Although health care is a right of citizenship, severe inequities in oral health and access to care persist. This paper provides information on the financing, organization and delivery of oral health services in Canada. It concludes that dental care has largely fallen out of consideration as health care. The increasing costs of dental insurance and disparities in oral health and access to care threaten the system"s sustainability. The legislation that allows the insured to receive tax-free care and requires all taxpayers to subsidize that expenditure is socially unjust. Unless an alternative direction is taken, dentistry will lose its relevance as a profession working for the public good and this will be followed by further erosion of public support for dental education and research. However, never before have we had the opportunity presented by high levels of oral health, the extensive resources already allocated to oral health care, plus the support of other organizations to allow us to consider what else we might do. One of the first steps would be to establish new models for the delivery of preventive measures and care that reach out to those who do not now enjoy access.
尽管医疗保健是公民的一项权利，但口腔健康及获得医疗服务方面的严重不平等现象依然存在。本文提供了有关加拿大口腔健康服务的融资、组织和提供情况的信息。结论是，牙科护理在很大程度上已不再被视为医疗保健。牙科保险成本的不断增加以及口腔健康和获得护理方面的差异威胁着该体系的可持续性。允许被保险人接受免税护理并要求所有纳税人补贴该支出的立法在社会上是不公正的。除非采取另一个方向，否则牙科作为一个为公共利益服务的职业将失去其相关性，随之而来的将是公众对牙科教育和研究的支持进一步受到侵蚀。然而，我们从未像现在这样有机会，高水平的口腔健康状况、已经分配给口腔医疗保健的大量资源以及其他组织的支持，让我们能够考虑我们还可以做些什么。第一步将是建立新的预防措施和护理提供模式，以惠及那些目前无法获得服务的人群。
