Mapping Dental Services: A Geographic Information System-based Analysis of Oral Healthcare Accessibility in a Tier II City of India
Sweta Singh, Ritu Randad, Ashish Upadhyay, Mayur Mishra, Pratik KariyaAbstract
Objective:
The study was conducted to analyze the distribution of dental services in a Tier II city of India and to study the spatial accessibility of dental service providers with respect to the population.
Methodology:
The city with a population of 3.5 million (2011 census) was analyzed for the distribution of dental care facilities. A total of 350 dental facilities were identified. Geocoding of the locations was completed using the GPS RECIEVER, by which geographic coordinates of latitudes and longitudes were assigned to the physical addresses of the location. The population data was obtained from the population census data of 2011.
Results:
There were a total of 8 Community Health Centres, 2 Government hospitals offering dental treatment, and 340 private dental clinics for a population of around 1,757,763 residents. The overall practice-to-population ratio was found to be approximately 1:5022, implying that there was 1 dental clinic per 5022 people. It was observed that the least number of facilities were present in the radius zone of 0.5 km from the city center. Maximum facilities were present in the 5 km radius buffer zone, constituting more than half of the facilities (206).
Conclusion:
Most of the dental facilities were private practices. They were found to be unevenly distributed. And the dental clinics were concentrated in areas of higher population density and better economic disposition. Though the practice population ratio was 1:5022, similar to that reported in developed countries, it gives a fallacious presentation on the spread of dental facilities.