March 2021

Introduction: Oral health is frequently given a low priority when healthcare funds are allocated to new initiatives. One method to highlight the health and social benefits of new oral health initiatives is to use cost benefit analysis to show their value. Aim: To demonstrate how Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) has been applied to two recent oral health initiatives to evaluate their ability to reduce costs and improve the quality of life. Methods: CBA was applied to the Mouth Care Matters project in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and the Senior Smiles project improving oral health in residential homes in Australia. Results: Over a five-year period, the Mouth Care Matters project would generate £2.66 in cost savings, within the healthcare system, for every £1 spent. Over a three year period the Senior Smiles project would generate a cost saving for the healthcare system of $3.14 for every $1 spent. These evaluations were instrumental to enable a national rollout for Mouth Care Matters and a public endorsement of the programme for Senior Smiles. Conclusions: Health economics can be a useful tool in aiding care organisations to assess the implications of decisions to spend limited resources in particular areas of healthcare over others. Keywords: Oral health, health expenditures, Economics, Health resources, Cost Benefits Analysis