This project is the final component of Global Health Studies immersion experience. I completed this experience at two different dental clinics within the Cincinnati Health Network. I shadowed dental professionals for approximately 40 hours, taking detailed field notes for qualitative research, in addition to my literature research. Oral health is one of the most integral, oftentimes overlooked, measures of overall health and well-being at both the individual and population levels. Prevalence of oral health diseases and conditions in the United States are heightened within lower-income, marginalized communities due to greater barriers to accessing adequate dental care and their environmental contexts. The main barriers include language, transportation, insurance, and socioeconomic status. The Cincinnati Health Network clinics works to combat these barriers through solutions like sliding fee discounts, medical interpretations, etc. Overall, this project demonstrates the disparities in oral health care faced by marginalized communities due to its exclusion as a primary healthcare system. This segregation prevents these populations from receiving the same preventive care as high-income, non-minority communities. This leads to poorer oral health outcomes, as well as worsened overall health and well-being for marginalized populations. An ideal oral health system is one that is integrated with other healthcare systems through policy change and emphasizes equitable, preventive care though additional interventions. It is important to recognize that these oral health disparities exist in order to create policy changes and technological advances that work to address them.
Author(s): Ashlee Greathouse, Anthropology and Premedical Studies Major
Advisor(s): Joseph Carlin, Department of Microbiology
Paul Flaspohler, Department of Psychology
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