Ohio dental care providers' treatment of young children, 2002

Adequate access to dental care for young children--particularly those from low-income families--is a public concern. The authors conducted a survey of Ohio dental care providers to examine factors influencing their willingness to care for these children.

Random samples of Ohio general practitioner (GPs) dentists and pediatric dentists (PDs) and all Ohio safety-net dental clinics completed a mail survey regarding treatment of children aged 0 through 5 years. The authors categorized responses by provider type and further analyzed GPs' responses by years since graduation and geographic character.

Few Ohio GPs (8 percent) recommended a first dental visit by 1 year of age. While 91 percent of GPs treated children aged 3 through 5 years, only 34 percent treated children aged 0 through 2 years, most often for emergency visits or examinations. Only 7 percent of all GPs and 29 percent of PDs accepted patients enrolled in Medicaid without limitations.

Children's being young (0-2 years of age) and having Medicaid as a payment source made GPs substantially less likely to treat them. Children's being enrolled in Head Start made GPs somewhat more likely to treat them.

New strategies for ensuring dental care access for young children from low-income families are necessary. Such strategies may take the form of interpeer advocacy, education, practice incentives or creation of coordinated GP and PD teams.