In a recent article in the Chronicle Herald, Dr Hennessy commented that barriers to care are concerning to the dental profession because oral health is absolutely linked to overall health.
Dental fees are often seen by the public as one of the most significant barriers to accessing care. Often our profession is blamed for "creating" a health care service that is inaccessible to the public. However, it is important for patients and the public to understand that dental offices are heath care facilities that have no choice but to be operated as small businesses.
This means that unlike other areas of the health care system, ALL the costs of delivering dental services must be covered by the fees collected from the patients for those services.
Despite what many people think, the money you pay for a filling or a cleaning is not going directly into the dentist's pocket! It covers the many costs of running a dental office.
It is often difficult for patients/public to understand the costs of a dental clinic, because so many of these costs are not front and centre. Of course there are the obvious things such as wages and employee benefits, rent, heat, and power. But have you ever considered the costs of things such as the dental chairs you sit in (each the cost of a small car), the equipment used for your care, and the dental materials used everyday? Dental offices are held to high standards of infection control, such that they are, in effect, "mini-hospitals". The sterilization equipment and infection control processes alone are things that are often taken for granted, yet are a large cost to a dental practice.
I often think that if we were handed an invoice every time we visited our Medical Doctor or the Emergency Room, the public would have a much better handle on the high cost of the provision of health care! It is an expensive undertaking, and indeed an important one that, as a society, I think we need to be more aware of. So instead of taking aim at "dentists as bad guy", let's remember that dentists are health care providers, small business owners and employers.
Dental fees are often seen by the public as one of the most significant barriers to accessing care. Often our profession is blamed for "creating" a health care service that is inaccessible to the public. However, it is important for patients and the public to understand that dental offices are heath care facilities that have no choice but to be operated as small businesses.
This means that unlike other areas of the health care system, ALL the costs of delivering dental services must be covered by the fees collected from the patients for those services.
Despite what many people think, the money you pay for a filling or a cleaning is not going directly into the dentist's pocket! It covers the many costs of running a dental office.
It is often difficult for patients/public to understand the costs of a dental clinic, because so many of these costs are not front and centre. Of course there are the obvious things such as wages and employee benefits, rent, heat, and power. But have you ever considered the costs of things such as the dental chairs you sit in (each the cost of a small car), the equipment used for your care, and the dental materials used everyday? Dental offices are held to high standards of infection control, such that they are, in effect, "mini-hospitals". The sterilization equipment and infection control processes alone are things that are often taken for granted, yet are a large cost to a dental practice.
I often think that if we were handed an invoice every time we visited our Medical Doctor or the Emergency Room, the public would have a much better handle on the high cost of the provision of health care! It is an expensive undertaking, and indeed an important one that, as a society, I think we need to be more aware of. So instead of taking aim at "dentists as bad guy", let's remember that dentists are health care providers, small business owners and employers.
