Provision of free and discounted dental services to selected populations: a survey of attitudes and practices of dentists attending the 1996 Dallas Midwinter Meeting.
An attitudes and practices survey of dentists attending the Dallas Midwinter Meeting in January 1996 in Dallas was conducted as a collaborative effort between the Dallas County Dental Society and the Baylor College of Dentistry. The survey was developed to help determine participating dentists' attitudes and practices in the area of provision of dental services on a discounted or free basis to disadvantaged patient groups. A total of 225 dentists responded to the survey. Of these surveyed dentists, 213 (94.6%) were in private practice and 199 (88.4%) described themselves as general dentists. A considerable amount of charitable dental services, discounted and free, was reported to be provided by the group of respondent dentists. A total of 152 (67.6%) of the dentists surveyed reported providing discounted or free care to elderly patients with low income, 125 (55.6%) provided such care to low-income patients without age restriction, and 137 (60.9%) cared for patients of record with temporary financial hardship. In other patient categories, 79 (35.1%) of the dentists provided free/discounted services to handicapped persons and 47 (20.9%) provided care to homebound patients. These findings concerning charitable practices by dentists were similar to those found in a comparable survey conducted by the American Dental Association in 1994. Dentists were fairly evenly split as to their preference where to volunteer services. Of the total respondents, 84 (40.6%) preferred providing services in their own office and 91 (44.0%) preferred to do so at a community health clinic that hosted volunteers.
McFadyen
J A
JA
Department of Public Health Sciences, Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, USA.
Seidler
K L
KL
Shulman
J D
JD
Wells
L M
LM
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology*; D005250:Fees, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008489:Medical Indigency / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas; D017664:Uncompensated Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data