By Kyle Gee
Young adults, many without dental insurance, are most likely to go to the emergency room when they have dental problems and are unlikely to get complete dental care there, said a study published last week.
Students should consider going to a dentist''s office rather than the emergency room if they have a dental problem.
'If you have a choice, it would be better to go to a dentist if you have a problem because they can provide definitive care rather than just treating the symptoms while the underlying problem is left to fester and cause problems later,' said Dr. Charlotte Lewis of the University of Washington and lead author of the study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Lewis said patients are unlikely to get complete dental care in emergency departments because dentists are seldom there.
Anton Garrity, public relations manager for Intermountain Health Care, said IHC does have dentists that perform some surgery at their facilities, but the health care program treats oral surgeries the same as other surgeries.
According to Lewis, the most significant finding in her study is that young adults, defined as 19- to 35-year-olds, are most likely to come to the emergency department when they have a dental problem.
'This is probably because this age group often does not have dental insurance,' Lewis said in an e-mail interview.
The national study reports that 44 percent of Americans do not have any kind of dental insurance.
'This is a particular problem for college age students who may have access to student health facilities but no dental care options,' Lewis said.
Rulon Barlow, director of Student Services at the BYU Health Center, said BYU does not ask students if they have dental insurance and has no way of knowing how many students are without dental coverage.
BYU students are not required to have dental insurance, but a recently created Discounted Medical Services Program available through the Health Center is helping students find affordable dental care.
As a result of an electronic survey conducted in April 2002, Barlow said the BYU Health Center administration became aware of the students'' interest in and need for dental coverage as part of the BYU Health Insurance Plan.
Barlow said BYU initially looked into providing dental insurance as part of the insurance plan but said the premiums would be too high for students.
BYU Health Center officials then looked into starting a partnership with medical providers that would allow BYU Health Plan members to purchase selected medical services at wholesale prices.
'The new Discounted Services Program provides the best of both worlds - significant services with low premiums,' Barlow said.
The program, which began in Fall Semester 2002, provides students with a list of medical specialists in the area who will offer student discounts of up to 50 percent for not only dental care, but also eye care and other health services.
'The students'' response has been really good,' Barlow said. 'They appreciate having this option that wasn''t available to them before.'
Barlow said he learned from an online student survey conducted in May that 63 percent of the respondents were aware of the Discounted Services Program. He said he hopes to increase awareness to 90 percent. Students can visit www.byu.edu/shc/discountedservices for more information about the program.