US health care reform and the future of dentistry

Am J Public Health. 2011 Oct;101(10):1841-4. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300358. Epub 2011 Aug 18.

Abstract

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has grand ambitions: to provide insurance coverage to more than 30 million currently uninsured Americans, to slow increases in health care costs, to reorganize the health care delivery system, and to improve the quality of care provided to all. Where does the oral health community fit in this initiative? Should dentists "scope up" to become a more active part of the primary care workforce? Or should dentists "scope down" and delegate parts of the traditional dental tool kit to midlevel practitioners? Our nation's public health largely depends on whether we can create a more integrated and public health-oriented delivery system. The oral health, physical health, and public health communities should address this challenge together.

MeSH terms

  • Dentistry / organization & administration
  • Dentistry / trends*
  • Forecasting
  • Health Care Reform* / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Health Care Reform* / trends
  • Humans
  • Oral Health
  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  • United States