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Do health systems cover the mouth? Comparing dental care coverage for older adults in eight jurisdictions

Author

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  • Allin, Sara
  • Farmer, Julie
  • Quiñonez, Carlos
  • Peckham, Allie
  • Marchildon, Gregory
  • Panteli, Dimitra
  • Henschke, Cornelia
  • Fattore, Giovanni
  • Lamloum, Demetrio
  • Holden, Alexander C.L.
  • Rice, Thomas

Abstract

Oral health is an important component of general health, yet there is limited financial protection for the costs of oral health care in many countries. This study compares public dental care coverage in a selection of jurisdictions: Australia (New South Wales), Canada (Alberta), England, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Drawing on the WHO Universal Coverage Cube, we compare breadth (who is covered), depth (share of total costs covered), and scope (services covered), with a focus on adults aged 65 and older. We worked with local experts to populate templates to provide detailed and comparable descriptions of dental care coverage in their jurisdictions. Overall most jurisdictions offer public dental coverage for basic services (exams, x-rays, simple fillings) within four general types of coverage models: 1) deep public coverage for a subset of the older adult population based on strict eligibility criteria: Canada (Alberta), Australia (New South Wales) and Italy; 2) universal but shallow coverage of the older adult population: England, France, Sweden; 3) universal, and predominantly deep coverage for older adults: Germany; and 4) shallow coverage available only to some subgroups of older adults in the United States. Due to the limited availability of comparable data within and across jurisdictions, further research would benefit from standardized data collection initiatives for oral health measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Allin, Sara & Farmer, Julie & Quiñonez, Carlos & Peckham, Allie & Marchildon, Gregory & Panteli, Dimitra & Henschke, Cornelia & Fattore, Giovanni & Lamloum, Demetrio & Holden, Alexander C.L. & Rice, T, 2020. "Do health systems cover the mouth? Comparing dental care coverage for older adults in eight jurisdictions," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(9), pages 998-1007.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:124:y:2020:i:9:p:998-1007
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2020.06.015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hwa-Young Lee & Eun-Young Bae & Kyungdo Lee & Minah Kang & Juhwan Oh, 2021. "Public Preferences in Resource Allocation for Insurance Coverage of Dental Implant Service in South Korea: Citizens’ Jury," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Katarina Vojvodic & Zorica Terzic-Supic & Jovana Todorovic & Cristina Gagliardi & Milena Santric-Milicevic & Marina Popovic, 2022. "Financial Burden of Medical Care, Dental Care, and Medicines among Older-Aged Population in Slovenia, Serbia, and Croatia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Bas, Anne-Charlotte & Wittwer, Jérôme, 2024. "How competition play a role in dental pricing? A study on French medico-administrative and tax reports dataset," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Susanne Felgner & Marie Dreger & Cornelia Henschke, 2022. "Reasons for (not) choosing dental treatments—A qualitative study based on patients’ perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(5), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Nazik M. Nurelhuda & Mark T. Keboa & Herenia P. Lawrence & Belinda Nicolau & Mary Ellen Macdonald, 2021. "Advancing Our Understanding of Dental Care Pathways of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Canada: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-11, August.
    6. Brekke, Kurt R. & Straume, Odd Rune & Siciliani, Luigi, 2025. "Public coverage of dental care: universal or targeted?," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 2/2025, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    7. Henschke, Cornelia & Winkelmann, Juliane & Eriksen, Astrid & Orejas Pérez, Eugenia & Klingenberger, David, 2023. "Oral health status and coverage of oral health care: A five-country comparison," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

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