Developing Management Information from an Administrative Database of Dental Services: Identifying Factors that Influence Costs

OBJECTIVE: We describe service patterns and compare changes in program expenditures with the Consumer Price Index over eight years in a dental program with a controlled-fee schedule offered to Canadian First Nations and Inuit people. METHODS: We obtained the computerized records of dental services for the period from 1994 to 2001. Each record identified the date and type of service, region and type of provider, age of the client and encrypted …