Costs of providing dental services to adult mentally retarded: a preliminary report.

This study reports on the hourly costs of providing comprehensive dental services to mentally retarded adults in a hospital-based group dental practice. The analysis indicated average total hourly costs of $56.11 for dentist-provided services an $22.25 for dental hygienist-provided services. When compared to the revenues available for program maintenance, a net hourly deficit of $18.82 per dentist hour and $9.89 per dental hygienist hour resulted. The implications of this operating loss on the continued care of this patient population are discussed.