The cost of providing restorative dentistry in an alternative delivery mode

This study is based on the Forsyth Dental School experiment, where it was shown that dental hygienists can be trained to perform restorative dental functions which are now the exclusive responsibility of dentists. The focus of the Forsyth study was to determine the length of training time required and to measure the qualitative and quantitative aspects of services carried out by the hygienists. As a follow-up to that study, this paper is concerned with the economic aspects of the personnel substitution suggested by the Forsyth project. The basic hypothesis of the study is that there would be a considerable gain from this change, and that this gain can be measured by estimating the costs of operation in the new setting anc comparing them to costs in the conventional setting. Combining estimated clinic costs and productivity data provides a measure of the per-surface supply price for an amalgam restoration. This estimate is 44 percent lower than usual fees and 29 percent lower than current welfare fees. The magnitude of this difference implies that the introduction of Forsyth clinics would lead to considerable economics in the elivery of these services.