Dr. Dek And His Practice

Grants have a great value in providing dental care in community health centers particularly dental clinics that represent a large public investment to address the dental health needs of a diverse underserved rural and urban communities, and uninsured populations. The grants that fund community health centers play a critical role in financial support to provide dental services for patients in Medicaid non-expansion states who are more likely to be uninsured. Grant funding enables community health centers to provide services not covered by most programs, such as adult dental care, transportation, translation services, and use sliding fees for privately insured patients who cannot afford their deductibles and cost-sharing (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2017).

In doing so, he pays particularly close attention to black patients and their relations with health care policies and practices. Smedly maintains that blacks are not only the victims of, inpatient and outpatient treatment, racial policies, and other services but also the victims of its consequences. He argues that many health care administrators are agents to a system of inequality that support provider and administrator biases, geographical inequalities, and racial stereotypes (Smedly 2012).

In the early 1960’s privately owned hospitals in North Carolina were allowed to discriminate against race as to whether to admit a patient to the hospital and/or grant privileges to African American doctors or dentists, as long as separate-but-equal facilities were provided. Dr. Simkins, an African American dentist, attempted to admit and treat a patient experiencing an abscessed tooth, ultimately being subjected to denial of privileges.

In “Where are all the Dentists?”, Kristen Lewis states that there are not enough dentists in rural areas, but that can be fixed. Many people in the modern world live in poverty and don't have the dental support they need. This is because regular dental treatment can cost up to $100, which is a lot for some people who don't have regular dental access. Having a dental degree is very pricey, so when the dentists come out of dental school, they are usually in debt. Because of this, dentists like to work in modern environments where they can get good business. But in places with not a lot of money, there are less or no dentists. These “dental deserts” have many people with untreated cavities and other bad tooth diseases. Because of that, dentists

When attempting to understand health care disparity, one must first also understand race. As race applies to health care inequity, Williams and Sternthal (2010) suggested that race is not purely biological but also a social classification system created by the hegemonic class. As such, favorable traits are those attributable to whites, thus creating an atmosphere predisposed to prejudices. In a health care setting where providers rely on swift judgment and scientific data to arrive at decisions, culturally ingrained norms are bound to influence attitudes

This has a number of perceived benefits such as being able to provide additional public dental care by expanding the public dental labour force significantly3. In particular, this is envisioned to allow for greater access to public dental care in rural areas3. The NHHRC report has suggested that this would also allow for graduate dentists to expand their skill set in an environment where they have more supervision and support before they potentially work independently in the private system1,2. Furthermore, the Department of Health suggests that this also might increase the retention of graduate dentists in the public sector, citing the high retention rate with the Voluntary Dental Graduate Year

One of the points raised in IOM’s article to prove that racism is a prevalent cause of health care disparity is the way the health care system is set-up, meaning at times, some hospitals and clinics can adopt a policy to contain health care cost, but may pose hindrances to minority patients’ capability to access the care.

Over 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance. On top of that, almost a million emergency room visits last year resulted from preventable oral conditions. Many Americans today are unaware of how the condition of their dentition affects their overall health. Socioeconomic limitations, the lack of dental education in parents, eating habits, and simply the availability of dentists plays a key role in the state of children’s oral health; implementing a universal dental care program will help lower the barriers that many people face when it comes to receiving the dental care they need. The program will target high-risk individuals who are prone to dental caries and provide them with standard

Beneficiaries are not the only ones bearing the costs of emergency dental services. The PEW Center on the States (2012), reported “the average cost of a Medicaid enrollee’s inpatient hospital treatment for dental problems is nearly 10 times more expensive than the cost of preventive care delivered in a dentist’s office.” Emergency departments are costly places for dental treatment and are significantly more expensive than a general practice dental visit (Wall, Nasseh, & Vujicic, 2014). Additionally, emergency department personnel are usually inadequately trained to diagnose and treat dental conditions (Cohen, 2013). Consequently, oral health issues often persist and Medicaid ends up covering the cost of advanced disease. Though limited budgets compel states to modify Medicaid coverage of adult dental benefits, covering preventative oral care would provide financial benefits for both beneficiaries and states. Routine oral exams are more economically feasible than emergency services that do not address the root of oral problems.

After all, we have gladly provided exceptional care in our offices – how can we ethically fail to address the need for ongoing dental care for those who may have many years still ahead of them but lack the ability to come to us? (Brown, 5)

I wish that I could say that the scenario in this weeks Case assignment doesn’t happen in the American Heathcare system, but I found evidence that proves it happens more often than not. A study was conducted at two Veteran Affairs facilities, the study includes African American and White patients. The African-American patients reported 70% vs 26% racism and 73% vs 53% classism when compared to the White patients, both groups of patients were seen in the same orthopedic surgeon’s office (Hausmann, Hannon, Kresevic, Hanusa, Kwoh, and Ibrahim, 2011). In this essay we will look at how Dr. Williams’ behavior influenced the outcome of his patient’s treatment.

In “Where are All the Dentists?” Kristin Lewis informs the reader about many people who aren't getting the dental care they need, and the organizations who are trying to change it. People who live in dental desserts don't have access to a dentist. Similarly, there are other people who can't afford to go to the dentist, because the cost to go is too high. Not having proper dental care can lead to many health issues later in life, so it's better to go to the dentist now. However, to fix this, people are starting to make mobile clinics where dentists will treat patients. These clinics will travel to dental deserts in order to help the people there for a lowered price, or even no cost at all! The hope is, that doing this will eventually help everyone

Michael E. DeBakey passed away at the age of 99 in 2008 of natural causes. Hospitals and doctors continue to use his procedures and devices from the 1900’s, to this day. Despite the fact that DeBakey is no longer performing surgeries, his legacy remains immortal and his innovation left an imprint on the modern world of

As I drifted deeper into my thoughts I kept thinking about this patient and what I read in the paper. He had several children and grandchildren. He was an animal lover and helped in his community. I felt extremely honored to be trusted to help at least attempt to bring him back to life. I wondered just how many people have passed at this hospital.

The results of the 2017-year showed a considerable improvement in the number of children who received these dental checkups. However, the quality of the oral health within many parts of Rhode Island is still below where the state would like it to be. Part of this issue is due to the confusion around dental packages in regard to health care. Through Medicaid, all children under the age of 18 have free access to dental care in order to maintain their oral health. Nevertheless, many parents are either unaware of this, or they don’t hold their children’s oral health needs on the same level as other health issues. Due to these incorrect assumptions, many children don’t take full benefit of this opportunity while they have it.