More Dental Patients Seeking Emergency Room Care
More Dental Patients Seeking Emergency Room Care >A report issued by the Florida Public Health Institute (FPHI) reveals that a record number of patients are seeking treatment for dental related pain at hospital emergency departments. The upward trend is
A report issued by the Florida Public Health Institute (FPHI) reveals that a record number of patients are seeking treatment for dental-related pain at hospital emergency departments. The upward trend is worrisome, and raises the possibility that similar developments are taking place throughout the United States. According to an analysis commissioned by FPHI and conducted by the Health Council of Southeast Florida, 115,000 visits to Florida emergency departments in 2010 were related to dental aches and pains, and could have been avoided with proper preventive and restorative care. The total cost for such care totaled $88 million (up from $66.8 million spent on 105,892 visits in 2008), with that amount expected to increase if the trend isn’t reversed.
Many of the dental patients seen at hospitals do not have dental insurance, and those covered by Medicaid are often limited by the state’s Medicaid regulations (in Florida, for example, preventive and restorative dental services are not covered). Noting that most emergency department visits take place during normal business hours, FPHI Executive Director Claude Earl Fox, MD, MPH, suggests these patients “either have no way to pay, cannot find a dentist who will accept the Medicaid reimbursement rate or don’t have the transportation necessary to reach one who will, or have no access to a public health clinic.”
Given the growing body of evidence linking oral health to systemic health, the prospect of emergency departments becoming the go-to dental operatory for patients in need is concerning. Oral Health Florida (OHF) Leadership Council Vice-Chair Frank Catalanotto, DMD—a professor and chair of the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science at the University of Florida, College of Dentistry at Gainesville—observes, “Hospital emergency rooms are neither staffed nor equipped to provide dental care. This means patients may only receive treatment for their symptoms, without treating the source of the problem.”
For these reasons, FPHI, OHF and the Florida Dental Association have voiced support for efforts to increase access to oral health care, and are working with state officials on ways to better serve Florida’s underserved population.
