Dental safety net: current capacity and potential for expansion.

Objectives: The authors' objectives were to determine the size and characteristics of the dentally underserved U.S. population, describe the capacity of the safety net system to treat the underserved, explore policy options for expanding the system and discuss the policy implications of these findings.

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.

The role of safety net providers in delivering oral health services for people with special needs.

The U.S. health care system, best suited to acute care for adults, struggles to accommodate vulnerable populations (such as the elderly, disabled, and mentally ill), and struggles even more to find or put in place a system to care for special needs populations.

Cancer early-detection services in community health centers for the underserved. A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Achieving cancer early-detection goals remains a challenge, especially among low-income and minority populations.

Design/setting: A randomized trial based in 62 community health centers for the underserved in New York, New Jersey, and western Connecticut. Family physicians were on staff at most of the centers.