Community dental clinics in British Columbia, Canada: examining the potential as health equity interventions.

Community dental clinics (CDCs) have emerged to provide oral healthcare for those with low incomes. In British Columbia, the establishment of community clinics has been quite rapid in recent years. However, the expansion has occurred with very little assessment of their impact or effectiveness.

Perspectives on community dental clinics and oral health inequities in British Columbia.

Background: This study investigates the expansion of community dental clinics to address oral health inequities in the province of British Columbia (BC) from the perspectives of dental professionals and allied service-providers.

Methods: Sixty-three people participated in individual and group interviews with dentists (n=4), dental hygienists (n=30), dental clinic staff (n=17), and other health care and social service providers (n=12).

Results: We identified two service-models: a volunteer-charitable (VC) model typically operating part-time mostly to relieve pain and a not-for-profit (NFP) model open full-time usually within a community health centre with paid staff providing basic dental services.

Community dental clinics: providers' perspectives.

Objectives: Not-for-profit community dental clinics attempt to address the inequities of oral health care for disadvantaged communities, but there is little information about how they operate. The objective of this article is to explain from the perspective of senior staff how five community dental clinics in British Columbia, Canada, provide services.

Methods: The mixed-methods case study included the five not-for-profit dental clinics with full-time staff who provided a wide range of dental services.

Access to dental care for low-income adults: perceptions of affordability, availability and acceptability.

The objective of this study was to explore access to dental care for low-income communities from the perspectives of low-income people, dentists and related health and social service-providers. The case study included 60 interviews involving, low-income adults (N = 41), dentists (N = 6) and health and social service-providers (N = 13). The analysis explores perceptions of need, evidence of unmet needs, and three dimensions of access--affordability, availability and acceptability.