Oral Healthcare Quality Improvements at the Community-Level in Denmark

Objectives
High-quality oral healthcare systems need constant adjustment in response to the oral healthcare needs of the population. As a prerequisite to designing quality improvements (QI), an overview of recent and existing QI initiatives and identification of unfulfilled oral healthcare needs are needed. The
study investigates current QI efforts for oral healthcare at the community-level for groups in socially disadvantaged positions, in Denmark. Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement 101057077: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101057077.
Methods
Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with professional stakeholders involved in the Danish healthcare system for groups in socially disadvantaged positions working in and outside the oral health sector. The data were inductively analysed using Grounded Theory Situational Analysis, aiming
to gain an overview of relevant existing and potential cross-sectional collaborations, ways of thinking and working, legislation, recent QI initiatives in the area and gaps calling for QI.
Results
Interviews were conducted with twelve stakeholders. Eligibility criteria for access to (free) Social Dental Care are found to be difficult to apply due to unclear conceptualisation, resulting in unspent budgets and inequality in access depending on the municipality of residence. Experiences of conflicts
between limited dental care rights for asylum-seekers and collaboration with dentists due to dentists' unwillingness to concede with the legal framework, preventing the legally secured minimum level of dental care from always being provided. Dental care was perceived with a focus on access and treatment
with the absence of prevention.
Conclusions
This situational analysis identifies current QI efforts, assesses their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests potential for new QI initiatives at the community-level for groups in socially disadvantaged positions, in Denmark. It may serve as a foundation for the development of future interventions aimed at collaborations between stakeholders to enhance the quality of oral care in the
target groups