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Inequality In Dental Care

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Any type of unaddressed health issue increases the risk of producing an accumulation of health-related anxieties. When oral health problems addressed, other chronic conditions may be improved during the process and ignoring dental needs may lead to huge future concerns (Choi, 2011). The lack of dental care coverage offered for low-income populations is a health disparity, and the affected populations will face many challenges for accessing dental care (MacDougall, 2016). About two-thirds of Americans request care from a dentist regularly (Waldman & Perlman, 2002; Waldman & Truhlar, 2010). In 2013, Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than 35 percent of poor families were uninsured. (Majerol et al., 2014) As with many issues of health inequality …show more content…
Moreover, dentist density and dentist participation in Medicaid moderate the relationship between reimbursement rates and access to dental care which is directly regulated at the state level, also no evidence showed that higher payment level for providers resulted in overuse of dental services for those who had access (Chalmers & Compton, 2017). However, very little studies have been done to investigate the influence of state dental fees and participation of dentists in Medicaid program. Also, researches were limited to single states, such as North Carolina, South Carolina and California (Kushman, 1978; Mayer, Stearns, Norton, & Rozier, 2000; Nietert, Bradford, & Kaste, 2005). Because low reimbursement rates have been cited as the major reason for lack of dentist participation in Medicaid program in particular states (S. L. Decker, 2011), this underline an important question, then why some other dentist are still agreeable to participate in Medicaid program and treat Medicaid patinets even with the low reimbursement rate in that particular state compared with other private …show more content…
Socioeconomic status is deeply linked with access to dental care and contributes to the formation of social classes in the United States. By recognizing this inequity and making improvements to promote equal access to dental care, social workers can advocate the Code of Ethics “priority of empowerment” (National Association of Social Workers, 1994). Moreover, the profession of social work is particularly useful to the enhancement of dental health disparities because social workers are able to skillfully advocate for social justice, provide necessary education and resources, and promote policy change (Coles et al.,

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