Department of Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2012 Aug;76(8):1068-76.
This article estimates the impact of dental therapists treating children on Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) dental clinic finances and productivity. The analysis is based on twelve months of patient visit and financial data from large FQHC dental clinics (multiple delivery sites) in Connecticut and Wisconsin. Assuming dental therapists provide restorative, extraction, and pulpal services and dental hygienists continue to deliver all hygiene services, the maximum reduction in costs is about 6 percent. The limited impact of dental therapists on FQHC dental clinic finances is because 1) dental therapists only account for 17 percent of children services and 2) dentists are responsible for only 25 percent of clinic expenses and cost reductions are related to the difference between dental therapist and dentist wage rates.
本文评估了牙医治疗儿童对联邦合格健康中心 (FQHC) 牙科诊所财务和生产力的影响。该分析基于康涅狄格州和威斯康星州大型 FQHC 牙科诊所（多个服务地点）的十二个月患者就诊和财务数据。假设牙医提供修复、拔牙和牙髓治疗服务，而牙科保健员继续提供所有的卫生服务，那么成本的最大降幅约为 6%。牙医治疗师对 FQHC 牙科诊所财务的影响有限，原因有二：1）牙医治疗师仅占儿童服务的 17%；2）牙医仅负责诊所费用的 25%，成本的降低与牙医治疗师和牙医工资率之间的差异有关。
