Costs of a school-based dental mobile service in South Africa.
BACKGROUND
The burden of untreated tooth decay remains high and oral healthcare utilisation is low for the majority of children in South Africa. There is need for alternative methods of improving access to low cost oral healthcare. The mobile dental unit of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has been operational for over 25 years, providing alternative oral healthcare to children and adults who otherwise would not have access. The aim of this study was to conduct a cost-analysis of a school based oral healthcare program in the Wits mobile dental unit. The objectives were to estimate the general costs of the school based program, costs of oral healthcare per patient and the economic implications of providing services at scale.


METHODS
In 2012, the Wits mobile dental unit embarked on a 5 month project to provide oral healthcare in four schools located around Johannesburg. Cost and service use data were retrospectively collected from the program records for the cost analysis, which was undertaken from a provider perspective. The costs considered included both financial and economic costs. Capital costs were annualised and discounted at 6 %. One way sensitivity tests were conducted for uncertain parameters.


RESULTS
The total economic costs were R813.701 (US$76,048). The cost of screening and treatment per patient were R331 (US$31) and R743 (US$69) respectively. Furthermore, fissure sealants cost the least out of the treatments provided. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the Wits mobile dental unit was cost efficient at 25 % allocation of staff time and that a Dental Therapy led service could save costs by 9.1 %.


CONCLUSIONS
Expanding the services to a wider population of children and utilising Dental Therapists as key personnel could improve the efficiency of mobile dental healthcare provision.
['Molete|M P|MP|', 'Chola|L|L|', 'Hofman|K J|KJ|']
D002648:Child D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis D003729:Dental Care D017048:Health Care Costs D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008952:Mobile Health Units D012189:Retrospective Studies D012574:Schools D013019:South Africa
School based program Cost analysis Mobile dental care Oral health