Out-of-office dentistry: an alternative delivery system.
Access to care continues to be a barrier in meeting the dental needs of a growing elderly population as well as other special patient care groups. One nontraditional delivery system reported and used by some practitioners is the mobile dental clinic. A dual purpose written survey was designed to: collect descriptive information about the operation of mobile and portable dental clinics and examine the attitudes and beliefs of dentists practicing out-of-office dentistry. This survey showed out-of-office dental clinics deliver dental services to a variety of patient populations. Portable dental clinics appear to be suited for care delivery to nursing home patients. There also appears to be a significant correlation between portable clinics and the delivery of denture service (P less than .05).
Krust
K S
KS
Division of Dental Hygiene, University of Missouri-Kansas City, School of Dentistry 64108-2795.
Schuchman
L
L
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016321:Dental Care for Aged; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires