L’activité odontologique hospitalière dans l’offre de soins en zone sous-dotée : exemple en Basse-Normandie.

Introduction: Demand for dental care in Basse-Normandie has been severely affected by the reduced availability of local services. One of the missions of hospital dental services is to respond to these difficulties in accessing care.

Purpose of the research: The objective of this study is to determine how hospital activity fits into the local dental care offer. To do this, we compared the activity of the dental service of the Caen hospital with that of private practices.

Results: The proportion of young patients, particularly those under fifteen, was greater at the university hospital than in private practice (20.9 percent vs 12.9 percent, p < 1.10 -5). The activity of private practices included a higher proportion of fixed prosthetic care and oral prophylaxis procedures, in contrast to surgical procedures, direct restorative care, and consultations, which account for a higher proportion of hospital activity (10 percent vs 22.5 percent, p < 1.10-5).

Conclusions: The dental service at Caen hospital differs from private practices in Basse-Normandie in that its activity is oriented toward primary care or emergency care. This activity seems to reflect a high individual caries risk, probably associated with social vulnerability. The unit therefore seems to respond to a need for primary care.