Files

Abstract

While oral health is important to one’s overall health, it often does not receive the same attention as other health services. As health inequities rise and dentistry becomes more subject to economic pressure, there is concern regarding dental students’ moral education, character development, and capacity to provide care for vulnerable populations. Existing literature does not fully explore the application of social responsibility to dentistry and the relationship between social responsibility and Medicaid participation. In this paper, I examine how dentists in Illinois conceptualize social responsibility as it relates to Medicaid and the manifestation of social responsibility in dentistry. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with dentists and orthodontists in Illinois, I discover a tension between practicing social responsibility and participating in Medicaid, as this social welfare program violates the financial, legal, and ethical obligations integral to practicing social responsibility. These findings help inform the promotion of social responsibility among the next generation of dentists and the improvement of access to dental care for low-income populations. Recommendations from this study include the use of workshops and town meetings hosted by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to address administrative burdens related to Medicaid, dental school curriculum that promotes social responsibility through service learning, and increased funding and proliferation of Federally Qualified Health Centers in Illinois.

Details

Actions

PDF

from
to
Export
Download Full History