Table 2 Strategies developed by dentists with respect to organisational, biomedical, and financial issues associated with people on social assistance
Types of issue | Solutions developed by dentists |
|---|---|
Organisational: how dentists deal with missed appointments | 1) Maximising attendance of people on social assistance: |
a) Motivating and/or threatening people | |
b) Finding time periods when people are available | |
c) Using “reminder” strategies | |
d) Avoiding planning sessions in advance and using people as “fillers” | |
2) Minimising the impact of non-attendance: | |
a) Booking appointments at times of the day/week that reduce disruption to a minimum | |
b) Shortening clinical sessions and/or double-booking | |
Biomedical: how dentists deal with treatments not covered by public dental insurance | 1) Limiting the therapeutic options to covered services |
2) Encouraging people on social assistance to accept non-covered treatment (at their own cost) | |
3) Performing non-covered treatment at reduced cost or for free | |
Financial: how dentists deal with the low fees of public dental insurance | 1) Avoiding performing covered treatments that offer only a low profit margin |
2) Reducing expenses of the dental clinic |