Dental care is a matter of great importance to everyone, but
it isn't accessible everywhere. Many communities even in larger cities simply
don't have ready access to dental care. A lot of attention is given to
inaccessibility to general medical care, but dental care has been overlooked.
However, there has been a recent push to see dental care made available to
individuals in underserved communities, and many are taking the need to heart
to pursue this.
The first thing that is most commonly tried is price
reduction. Dental offices don't have absolute freedom over their prices.
Naturally, they have expenses to pay, and dental equipment isn't cheap.
However, advances in technology have allowed for more affordable tools, and the
advent of the web has made dental supply a more level playing field. The
increased competition brought on by the availability of more than one supplier
give dental offices increased leverage to negotiate, which allows them to offer
prices as they prefer.
What we're also seeing more of is financing options.
Financing allows an individual to pay off dental work in payments over time,
instead of a one-time lump sum. They're common and popular options that are
proven and get a lot of use. However, they aren't always available to people
without credit, and ironically can be easier to access for people with bad
credit. The same communities that tend to go without ready dental care
frequently also have issues with credit, making this a very big, valuable
change.
Mobile care units are growing more popular among dental
practitioners, and these are becoming an effective stopgap in many areas.
Mobile care units are effectively small medical facilities fit into trailers
that can be maneuvered and parked anywhere you can access by road. These allow
dentists to take their services out into communities that may not have dental
services, making themselves physically more available. This allows for dental
care to be provided in places that would ordinarily not warrant the installation
of an office from a financial standpoint. Not every dentist can finance a
mobile care unit, but they're one of the many ways in which modern dentistry is
reaching out to underserved communities.
Increased education about dental health is a more oblique
way of addressing the issue, but nonetheless effective. By spreading
information about proper tooth care, the need for direct dental care can be
reduced. This doesn't address the problem directly, but instead ameliorates it
on a temporary basis. It isn't the same thing as having a dentist available and
the means to pursue care, but it does soften the blow of limited availability,
and is something that nearly anyone can assist with.
Ultimately, the biggest mitigating factor in spreading
dental care to a larger number of people is cost. It takes a lot of time and resources
to extend the reach of dental care to a new community and this are more than
most individuals can muster from the base of a private practice. This is why we
haven't seen a major push for this sooner: it's simply not feasible for most
organizations. Progress, when it is made, generally happens on the local level
only. It's progress nonetheless, but there aren't very many large movements yet
to bring dental care to greater availability. It remains to be seen if this
will change, but some are doing their best to change this.
Kool Smiles is
a great example of an organization working to bring dental care to more people.
They're more than just one office reaching out; it's a network of local offices
working toward the same goal. Functioning as a network, they can put forward a
much stronger effort to bring dental care to underserved communities. Through
their cooperation they're able to offer more affordable services, and reach out
to communities that may not be aware of what services they have access to,
making them a leader on this front.
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