Summary: Utilization Of Dental Care In Canada

Oral health has a direct impact on the general health, hence, it is important that all Canadians have adequate access to dental care services. Over the years successive Governments have reduced financial support to programs delivering dental care to most vulnerable populations. As a result, many low income families and other vulnerable groups have been unable to access dental care. There is further escalation in the disparities in oral health care among Canadians, as the number of Canadians losing dental care benefits continues to increase. Also, higher oral health care costs can be expected in the near future due to shortage of health care professionals.

This paper will discuss the Canadian healthcare system compared to the United States healthcare system. Although they’re close in proximity, these two nations have very different health care systems. Each healthcare system has its own difficulties, and is currently trying to find ways to improve. Canada currently uses the Universal Health Care system; which provides healthcare coverage to all Canadian citizens (Canadian Health Care, 2007). The services are executed on both a territorial and provincial basis, by staying within the guidelines that have been enforced by the federal government (Canadian Health Care, 2007).

When asked to describe what makes Canada unique compared to other countries, many outsiders might yell out “Hockey!” “Cold Weather!” or “Free Health Care!.” Health care is definitely one of Canada’s most noticeable trademarks when compared to the United States, but the reality is that our health care services are not what they are made out to be. Canadians tend to take pride in the fact that they have a Government funded health care system, but the system is failing at a rapid pace. One can gage the quality of health care in our country while at the emergency ward in any hospital, where most Canadians realize its downsides. The Government spends most of its budget towards health care but Canadians are not feeling an improvement. Waiting

The problem in accessing dental care for low-income community is complex and cannot be determined simply. Lack of utilisation is as a result of lack of demands for dental health (Al Agili, Bronstein & Greene-McIntyre 2005). Demand also depends on the economic condition that supports the patients. At the individual level it has been known for years that financial reason is an essential barrier for not able to visit a dentist (Wallet et al. 2014). However, in this case, the Government try to assist low-income people by reducing financial barrier through the benefit offering by CDBS. Even though the scheme has not maximally encouraged those are eligible for the scheme. In addition to the financial barrier, perceived need is one of the reasons

The provision of dental treatment in Australia is a topic that ignites a wide range of opinions and emotions among the various stakeholders involved. Much of dentistry in Australia is provided in the private setting, some estimates suggesting 83%1. Australians fund up to 60% of dental care via out of pocket payments1,2. Only a relatively small amount of dental care is provided in the public sector to patients who are often disadvantaged in regards to their oral health1. It is estimated that a large amount of the population is unable to access dental care due to finances; however the capacity of the public sector to provide dental care is limited. With limited funding and resources, the public sector is unable to provide dental care for all Australians and a large proportion of people are on long wait lists, some estimates of 650,0002.

Hundreds of years ago, the dental profession and the medical profession was perceived as two separate entities, however, this bifurcated health system has created an epidemic in oral disease with our aging population (Nagro, 2016). Dentistry should be more closely integrated with medicine and the health care system, however, organized dentistry has fought to stay a monopoly. They have protested regarding dental personnel being independent, even in the advancement of serving more rural areas, just as they repelled being part of Medicare. Finally, there are a few states that have alternative choices for a dental hygienist to travel to people who can’t get to a traditional dental office. Some of these states include Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon,

One of such studies was carried out by Han et al, 2014 utilizing data obtained from household interviews conducted by the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Subsequent to controlling for statistic considers, the receipt of dental checkups and routine wellbeing checkups essentially increased in young adults between 19 and 25 years old after the implementation of the ACA of the needy scope grown-ups in the vicinity of, however not in those between the ages of 26 and 30 years. The rates of people who got flu immunization and Pap testing changed nearly nothing over this period in both age ranges. Analysis aimed at comparing the differences in the utilization of these services after sometime between grown-ups who were between the ages of 19 and 25 years revealed that, the individuals who were between the ages of 26 and 30 years, noteworthy changes were seen in the receipt of dental checkups and pulse estimations, yet not in the utilization of the other three administrations We additionally watched a noteworthy increment (from 36.7% to 42.4%) in the rate of young adults between the ages of 19 and 25 years who had private dental insurance. Although dental checkups are not mandatory under the ACA, numerous dental carriers have selected to include dental coverage in their plans (Han et al,

Many low income areas have dental therapists as part of their local dental team. Many people in these areas have never been to a dentist or do not go every six months as recommended this poses many other health problems. There has been case studies and data showing that in these areas dental health

Oral health in Australia is a concern. The impact of poor dental health can instigate ulcers, gingivitis, gum disease and damage one’s overall health. Tooth decay is extensive among Australian adults, and tooth aches are a considerable amount of hospital admission for children (Parliament of Australia, 2013). Two in three children aged 14 years have deteriorated permanent teeth, while three in ten adults receive no treatment at all. Adults living in rural Australia are 1.7 times more likely to have no teeth than those in major cities. 14 percent of children and 37 percent of adults avoid or delaying seeing a dentist due to costs (Australian Institude of Health and Welfare, 2012). The advantages of installing a dental program within

Thesis Statement: Dental care costs should be covered under the umbrella of Canada’s publicly funded health care system because oral health is linked to our overall health, the current insurance scheme widens the gap between the rich and poor, and the dire need for universal dental coverage is rather a major social and health care issue that has to be acted upon by the Canadian government for the Canadians.

When discussing health care systems, Canada’s is often used as a possible model for the US. The two countries systems are very different being that Canada has a single payer, mostly publicly funded system, while the US has a multi-payer, heavily private system. So much of the appeal of the Canadian system is that is does more for less. They provide universal access to health care for its citizens, while almost one in five non-elderly Americans are uninsured. Many of these findings come from the results of the Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health from 2002-2003. This survey revealed that the health status is for the most part similar in the two countries, but income-related health disparities exist. For example, Americans in the poorest income bracket are more likely to have poor health compared to their “counterparts” in Canada. In "Health Status, Health Care, and Inequality: Canada vs. the U.S.," (NBER Working Paper 13429) June O 'Neill and Dave M. O 'Neill take a closer look at the U.S. and Canadian health care systems. They examine whether the Canadian system delivers better health outcomes and distributes health resources more justifiably than the U.S. system. After conducting their own research, they have different findings then the survey. They feel that in the US we have too many outside factors contributing to our health to really be able to compare the two systems. Let’s take a deeper look into the different systems.

Oral health is not considered an integral part of Canada 's universal, publicly-funded health care regime. Dental care, outside of a hospital setting, does not constitute a ‘medically necessary’ service for the purpose of maintaining health as per the Canada Health Act (1964). There are three components to the Canadian health system that exist today: universal, publicly-funded coverage for physician and hospital services (known as Medicare); goods and services such as home care, long-term care, and prescription drugs which are funded either privately (through insurance or out-of-pocket), or publicly (through targeted subsidies or direct delivery programs); and finally, private health care services which include dental care.1 Costs for

The Canadian health coverage has some similarities and differences with the U.S healthcare system. Most Americans and their dependent families are insured through their employers in an employer –based insurance. In 2010, approximately 48 percent of those covered under employer-based insurance were dependents, including those younger than 18 (100 percent), adults aged 65 and older (24.6 percent) and adults age 18 to 64 (32.7 percent). (LaPierre,2012)

About 80% of Canadian claims that they have a family doctor and 64% of the population claim to have a dentist. In another word, the healthcare in Canada is considered to be highly accessible. Unfortunately, the system does have its flaws in situations such as the aboriginals, the people with disabilities, and for the populations that lives outside the urban areas have less accessible healthcare providers. For many instances, the dweller of the rural and reserves areas would have to travel for hours to find a clinic and for others it is simply not available.

Economic status of the dental industry is “A key risk factors for many oral diseases, and significantly determines both general and oral health” (Beaglehole Pg 49) .Countries income and dental care can determine the number of oral health or dental diseases people might have in that country. In appendix 8 and 9there is a chart which identifies the “Relationship between GDP per capita” (Beaglehole 48) in the dental care industry.