[O3-2] The Program of Dental Home Visit in Taiwan - a retrospective analysis
Objectives: Although Taiwan’s National Health Insurance prides itself on its high accessibility and availability, patients who are bedridden or have limited mobility have difficulty in receiving dental services. Therefore, organizing dentists to provide dental home visit is necessary to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities. Since 2011, the National Health Insurance Department and the Taiwan Dental Association (TWDA) have cooperated to promote the “Special need dental service plan for the global budgets of dentistry outpatient services under the National Health Insurance” to provide dental services to people with physical and mental disabilities. In its early stage, the program mainly focused on welfare institutions for the physically and mentally disabled and then extended to home services to improve the quality of life of patients and reduce the burden on family members.
Methods: This report uses methods of big data and analysis, that is, based on the National Health Insurance database, to explore the current status and challenges of dental home visit in Taiwan.
Results: Most of the patients who qualify for dental home visit have multiple types of disability, of which mental disease and cardiovascular disorders are the most common types. These classes include bedridden patients with dementia, stroke, and nasogastric tube feeding. Patients with nasogastric tube cannot chew common foods by mouth because of lack of teeth or due to aspiration pneumonia or dysphagia. People with poor chewing ability, cardiovascular disease, poor oral conditions, and those who do not use dental services are more likely due to frailty. In terms of medical supply, dental home visit in Taiwan has a number of challenges. One of the problems is the inconvenience of the hardware. Another problem is the cost of dental home visit, which is not consistent and is one of the reasons why dentists are unwilling to participate. Moreover, the application process is complicated and time-consuming.
Conclusions: The needs of dental home visit service in Taiwan have not been met. Preventive actions may be the solution, including regular oral examinations of the elderly to restore chewing function, prevention of hypertension in order to reduce the incidence of stroke, and pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapy to delay dementia in the elderly.
The author’s declaration: No conflict of interest (COI), in any way
Methods: This report uses methods of big data and analysis, that is, based on the National Health Insurance database, to explore the current status and challenges of dental home visit in Taiwan.
Results: Most of the patients who qualify for dental home visit have multiple types of disability, of which mental disease and cardiovascular disorders are the most common types. These classes include bedridden patients with dementia, stroke, and nasogastric tube feeding. Patients with nasogastric tube cannot chew common foods by mouth because of lack of teeth or due to aspiration pneumonia or dysphagia. People with poor chewing ability, cardiovascular disease, poor oral conditions, and those who do not use dental services are more likely due to frailty. In terms of medical supply, dental home visit in Taiwan has a number of challenges. One of the problems is the inconvenience of the hardware. Another problem is the cost of dental home visit, which is not consistent and is one of the reasons why dentists are unwilling to participate. Moreover, the application process is complicated and time-consuming.
Conclusions: The needs of dental home visit service in Taiwan have not been met. Preventive actions may be the solution, including regular oral examinations of the elderly to restore chewing function, prevention of hypertension in order to reduce the incidence of stroke, and pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapy to delay dementia in the elderly.
The author’s declaration: No conflict of interest (COI), in any way