The American Dental Association (ADA) Access White Paper, "State and Community Models for Improving Access to Dental Care for the Underserved," is available on the ADA's Web site.
The paper is the latest in a series of ADA reports and studies aimed at helping states and communities create market-based solutions to ease unmet needs for dental care among large groups of Americans.
"The poor -- including low-income elderly -- the disabled and residents of rural and inner city areas, where attracting a dentist is difficult, are particularly hard hit," the access report states.
According to the report, the ADA has researched extensively the problems plaguing dental public-assistance programs and the innovations under way in some states and localities to address them.
"This paper examines five models, three at the state level and two at the community level, which other states and communities could adopt, modifying them as appropriate to meet the specific needs of their residents," states the access report.
The ADA White Paper can be downloaded from the following Web address
http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/topics_access_whitepaper.pdf.
The report's Executive Summary is available at the following Web address
http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/topics_access_whitepaper_execsumm.pdf.
