Unit Cost of Itemized Dental Services for 3 Years Comparing Dental service Fee of The Comptroller General’s Deparment in 2016 and Dental service Fee under the Ministry of Public Health in 2017

Abstract

This descriptive research was designed to study the unit cost of dental services in Bangchak Hospital, Phra Pradaeng District, SamutPrakan Province. Data was retrospectively collected for 3 years (October 2014 to September 2016) from disbursement records of government officer salaries, remuneration welfare, inventory program, utilities expenses, dental equipment despreciation cost, maintenance cost of dental equipment, prosthesis cost from private lab, and service provision data from Hosp program classified based on that of the Comptroller General's Department (CGD). The study revealed that the proportion of labor cost:material cost:capital cost was 54.06:8.34:37.60 in 2014, 56.49:9.68:33.82 in 2015, and 58.17:10.90:30.93 in 2016. The three highest unit cost were fixed bridge (3-5 unit), full-denture dental prosthesis, and >5 teeth metal removable partial dentures (MRPD), respectively. Comparing item - ized dental cost with the fee of the Comptroller General's Deparment (CGD) using ratio of cost to charges (RCC), the 3 services with lower RCC proportion (RCC <1) were pit & fissure sealant, incision and drainage of root abscess, and root planning/curettage at 0.37, 0.55 and 0.56 respectively; and the top 3 with higher RCC proportion (RCC >1) were dental radiography, dental crown prosthetics and torectomy, and ostectomy of maxilla at 2.37, 1.73 and 1.63 respectively. When comparing dental service cost and fee set by Ministry of Public Health, the unit cost of dental radiography was 1.58 times higher than the service fee whereas pit & fissure sealant had 3.71 times lower.