Isringhausen Kim T, VanderWielen Lynn M, Vanderbilt Allison A
J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2014 May;25(2):670-4. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2014.0108.
Oral health disparities in the United States are a result of economic, educational, and social barriers faced by vulnerable and underserved individuals. The oral health care infrastructure is continuously challenged to provide access to quality care with a shortage of dental professionals and expanding oral health disparities. Federally qualified health centers (FQHC) provide oral health care in underserved communities, while schools of dentistry strive to provide students and residents with experience in underserved communities to address access to care issues and produce oral health professionals who will practice in these communities. Formal partnerships between these organizations have the potential to address oral health disparities, access to dental care and improve dental education and training. Utilizing ArcGIS (ArcMAP) software, dental schools and FQHC services sites located in the continental United States were geocoded to demonstrate geographic feasibility: on average, dental schools are within 10 miles of 34 FQHC service sites.
美国的口腔健康差异是弱势群体和服务不足人群所面临的经济、教育和社会障碍造成的。口腔医疗保健基础设施不断面临挑战，因为牙科专业人员短缺且口腔健康差异不断扩大，难以提供高质量的医疗服务。联邦合格健康中心（FQHC）在服务不足的社区提供口腔医疗保健，而牙科学院则努力为学生和住院医生提供在服务不足社区的实践经验，以解决医疗服务可及性问题，并培养将在这些社区执业的口腔健康专业人员。这些组织之间的正式合作关系有潜力解决口腔健康差异、牙科护理可及性问题，并改善牙科教育与培训。利用ArcGIS（ArcMAP）软件，对位于美国大陆的牙科学院和FQHC服务地点进行了地理编码，以证明地理可行性：平均而言，牙科学院距离34个FQHC服务地点不到10英里。
