Longitudinal analysis of cost and dental utilization patterns for older adults in outpatient and long-term care settings in Minnesota.

Background: Dental utilization patterns and costs of providing comprehensive oral healthcare for older adults in different settings have not been examined.

Methods: Retrospective longitudinal cohort data from Apple Tree Dental (ATD) were analyzed (N = 1,159 total; 503 outpatients, 656 long-term care residents) to describe oral health status at presentation, service utilization patterns, and care costs. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) repeated measures analysis identified significant contributors to service cost over the three-year study period.

Integrated Medical-Dental Delivery Systems: Models in a Changing Environment and Their Implications for Dental Education.

Models and systems of the dental care delivery system are changing. Solo practice is no longer the only alternative for graduating dentists. Over half of recent graduates are employees, and more than ever before, dentists are practicing in groups.

Prevention in practice--a summary.

Background: This paper is a summary document of the Prevention in Practice Conference and Special Supplement of BMC Oral Health. It represents the consensus view of the presenters and captures the questions, comments and suggestions of the assembled audience.

Methods: Using the prepared manuscripts for the conference, collected materials from scribes during the conference and additional resources collated in advance of the meeting, authors agreed on the summary document.

Economic models for prevention: making a system work for patients.

The purpose of this article is to describe alternative means of providing patient centered, preventive based, services using an alternative non-profit, economic model. Hard to reach, vulnerable groups, including children, adults and elders, often have difficulties accessing traditional dental services for a number of reasons, including economic barriers. By partnering with community organizations that serve these groups, collaborative services and new opportunities for access are provided.

Apple Tree Dental: An Innovative Oral Health Solution.

The Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health called attention to the "silent epidemic" of dental disease. Older adults and other vulnerable people continue to suffer disproportionately from dental disease and inadequate access to care. As a society and as dental professionals, we face multiple challenges to care for our aging patients, parents and grandparents.

Oral health delivery systems for older adults and people with disabilities.

This article describes new oral health care system models designed to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population of older adults and people with disabilities. These populations are not currently able to access traditional dental offices and clinics to the same degree that younger and much healthier population groups do. So new models proactively target specific community organizations where these high-risk underserved population groups live, work, go to school, or obtain other health or social services.

Using telehealth technologies to improve oral health for vulnerable and underserved populations.

Telehealth refers to the use of technology to provide health care at a distance. The important and increasing role of telehealth in the delivery of health care has been recognized for several decades. Although there are fewer reports on the use of telehealth to deliver oral health services, evidence is emerging that these technologies can enhance the ability of the oral health delivery system to reach vulnerable and underserved populations.

The Minnesota Oral Health Care Solutions Project: implications for people with special needs.

Disparities in oral health status and access to dental care are major problems for people with special needs in Minnesota and across the country. The current delivery system for people with special needs is failing. Patients, community leaders, private dentists, safety net clinics, and state agencies are frustrated with the Medicaid program that funds the current system; and everyone is looking for new solutions.

Oral health for people with special needs: consensus statement on implications and recommendations for the dental profession.

In November 2004, the Pacific Center for Special Care at the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, with support from the California Dental Association Foundation, hosted a conference to explore the issue of oral health for people with special needs. This conference was held in conjunction with the joint meetings of Pacific's Statewide Task Force on Oral Health for People With Special Needs and Pacific's Statewide Task Force on Oral Health and Aging.