Healthcare policy = Politiques de santé
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Dentists may experience frustration in their practice with people living on welfare, often perceiving them in a negative light. The difficulties encountered are detrimental to the patient-professional relationship and contribute to compromising access to care for this underprivileged population. In order to fully understand patient-professional interactions, we must consider the macroscopic contexts in which they occur. This paper examines the systemic influences of these interpersonal relationships to deepen our understanding of an important access-to-care determinant for people living on welfare. ⋯ Quebec's oral healthcare system fails to provide effective access to care for individuals living in poverty, and the government must significantly augment its involvement in this healthcare sector. Dentists should also understand the impact that systemic influences have on their rapport with people living on welfare. We argue that new orientations for the field of dental professional education should be considered.This paper was originally published in French, in the journal Pratiques et Organisation des Soins 2011 42(3).