Barriers to care are any sort of obstacle that limits or prevents people from receiving adequate health care, including dental care. In many cases, multiple barriers to care may be involved. Common barriers to care include:
- Financial hardship
- Geographic location
- Lack of insurance
- Poor oral health literacy
- Language, education or cultural barriers
A Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) is an area within the United States with a shortage of health care professionals. Federal regulations stipulate that, in order to be considered as having a shortage of providers, an area must have a population-to-provider ratio of a certain threshold. For dental care, the population to provider ratio must be at least 5,000 to 1, or 4,000 to 1 if there are unusually high needs in the community.
As of April 1, 2024, there were 6,826 total dental HPSA designations within the US, which would require an additional 9,814 dental providers to meet this need. More than 57 million Americans are affected by these shortages of dental care providers.
ASDA Policy
ASDA believes that dental students should be involved in the reduction of barriers to care, and that evidence-based measures should be employed:
- H-1 Student Involvement to Address Barriers to Care: The American Student Dental Association encourages the participation of interested dental students in efforts to impact the oral health of the public through projects, education, internships, externships and outreach to underserved populations.
- H-2 Evidence-Based Solutions for Barriers to Care: The American Student Dental Association supports evidence-based measures that are efficacious and sustainable in reducing barriers to care in underserved communities. These measures include, but are not limited to, early intervention, Medicaid expansion and co-location of health services.
What can we do?
ASDA supports the following measures, among others, as ways to address barriers to care issues:
- Oral health education
- Medicaid expansion
- Children’s Health Insurance Programs
- Emergency Room referral programs
- Teledentistry
- Student loan forgiveness programs for working in rural or underserved areas
ASDA members are very active in supporting initiatives that address barriers to care. Many chapters are involved in projects like Give Kids a Smile and Mission of Mercy, which provide dental care to patients who may otherwise go untreated.
What Has ASDA Done?
Students and dentists have lobbied members of Congress in support of several bills addressing Barriers to care at ASDA and the ADA’s annual Lobby Day in Washington, D.C.