The discomfort and pain associated with the oral manifestations of HIV significantly lowers oral health related quality of life in HIV positive patients. An outreach program to treat the oral manifestations of HIV in adult patients twice weekly at 's antiretroviral (ARV) clinic was instituted in 2005. Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe the costs and outcomes of the program one year after initiation. Methods: Clinical and demographic data for 203 randomly selected patients (38% sample) were obtained from program records. The diagnostic criteria of the EC-Clearinghouse for oral lesions strongly associated with HIV had been used. The resources depleted in treating the patients and the costs of organizing and operating the program were valued based on prevailing prices in 2005. The costs of goods and services offered at the ARV clinic, including shared common overhead services, were excluded from the analysis. The outcome measure chosen was the number of patients appropriately treated. Results: The mean age of the patients was 38 years with a range of 20 to70 years. One hundred and thirty six (67%) patients were females. Oral lesions were diagnosed in 34% of the patients. Oral candidiasis was the most prevalent condition (58 %). Fixed costs amounted to R83 512. They included a dentist salary (51.4%), equipment and instruments (36.2%), transport and travel (11.7%) and the market rates for the rental of donated clinic space (0.7%). The variable costs amounted to R8 791 .They included consumables (42.8%), drugs (37.2%), general administration (17.7%) and communications (2.3%). Total program costs amounted to R92 303. The average cost per patient was R170.62. Conclusion: Owing to its health effects and no tenable do-nothing alternative an outreach program is a cost effective way to manage HIV related oral manifestations among patients attending an ARV clinic. |