Access to care - what can the United States learn from other countries?

This paper briefly describes the US system for dental care services; asserts that there is much to be learned by considering the experience of other countries; identifies a few lessons that may be learned from comparisons with England, Australia, and other nations; and encourages the monitoring of outcomes associated with innovations in financing and delivery of services elsewhere. Oral health is affected by more factors than access to dental care. Because so many factors at the individual, environmental, and delivery system levels affect oral health, interpreting the findings from international studies is difficult. Furthermore, the findings of these international studies are confounded by significant intra-country variation in outcomes and expectations. While public funding and the public provision of services (such as programs in schools or community health centers) can be powerful instruments of change, they have their limitations. Examination of all types of public subsidization of dental care may reveal inadvertent distributions that may increase disparities. The discovery of best practices and lessons learned in the financing and organization of dental care may begin by comparing US experiences with those of other countries.