Abstract
Background: The growing immigration to Germany led to more patients whose medical needs are divergent from those of the domestic population. In the field of dental health care there is a debate about how well the German health system is able to meet the resulting challenges. Data on asylum-seekers’ dental health is scarce. This work is intended to reduce this data gap. Methods: We conducted this retrospective observational study in Halle (Saale), Germany. We included all persons who were registered with the social welfare office (SWO) in 2015 and received dental treatments. From the medical records, we derived information such as complaints, diagnoses, and treatments. Results: Out of 4107 asylum-seekers, the SWO received a bill for 568 people. On average, there were 1.44 treatment cases (95%-CI: 1.34–1.55) and 2.53 contacts with the dentist per patient (95%-CI: 2.33–2.74). Among those, the majority went to the dentist because of localized (43.2%, 95%-CI: 38.7–47.7) and non-localized pain (32.0%, 95%-CI: 27.8–36.2). The most widespread diagnosis was caries (n = 469, 98.7%, 95%-CI: 97.7–99.7). Conclusion: The utilization of dental care is lower among asylum-seekers than among regularly insured patients. We assume that the low prevalence rates in our data indicate existing access barriers to the German health care system.
Highlights
IntroductionThe growing immigration has led to more patients whose native language is not German and whose medical needs diverge from those of the domestic population [1]
This study included all persons who were registered with the social welfare office in Halle (Saale), Germany, as asylum-seekers at any time in 2015 for at least 1 day and received any dental care while registered as asylum-seekers
The utilization of dental care is lower among asylum-seekers than among regularly insured patients
Summary
The growing immigration has led to more patients whose native language is not German and whose medical needs diverge from those of the domestic population [1]. This results from differing legal and socio-cultural determinants of health [2]. While engaging for their specific medical needs, new challenges for the healthcare system to integrate asylum-seekers arise. The growing immigration to Germany led to more patients whose medical needs are divergent from those of the domestic population. Results: Out of 4107 asylum-seekers, the SWO received a bill for 568 people
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