Uptake of dental services by children after the reform in dental care in Israel (2011-2014)

Objectives: The reform in dental care provision in Israel started on July 2010, with the inclusion of preventive and restorative dentistry to children in the basket of services of the National Health Insurance Law. The eligibility today is from birth to 12 years old. The four HMO'S report annually to the Ministry of Health regarding the services they provide.
Objectives: To examine the uptake of dental services in the first 4 years (2011-2014) after the reform.

Methods: Analysis of data provided by the HMO'S to the Ministry of Health.
Results: TThe number of eligible children increased from 1,549,851 to 1,930,110 and went up from 8 to 12 years. The number and proportion of treated children increased: in the year 2011 18% were treated, in the year 2012 26.5% were treated, in 2013 28.8% and in 2014 29.3%. The most treated age group is 6-8.
The preventive component decreased between 2011 and 2012 but increased since 2012 as the restorative component decreased.
The number of treatments per child decreased between 2011-2014 from 3.73 to 3.11 and the number of preventive treatments increased between 2012-2014 from 1.02 to 1.11.
About 1% were treated under general anesthesia.
Conclusions: The uptake of both preventive and restorative services by the eligible population increased as we as the preventive treatment component during the four years following the reform. It is hoped that this will continue and much wider segment of the population will use this right. Further efforts to expand and increase the accessibility of dental treatment to the population should be made.