Factors associated with access to dental care for children with special health care needs

The authors examined the relationship between receipt of routine medical care and receipt of dental care among children with special health care needs (CSHCN) who resided in the American Dental Association's Fifth Trustee District, which includes Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, a module of that year's State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Service Administration, Rockville, Md., and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta). The authors used bivariate and logistic regression analyses to explore the relationships (n = 2,092) between predisposing, enabling and need factors and receipt of dental care.

The parents of an estimated 76 percent of CSHCN in the district reported that their child had a need for dental care in the previous 12 months. Of these, 13.1 percent did not receive care. Failure to obtain needed dental care was associated with failure to obtain routine medical care, as was having a lower income.

Failure to obtain routine medical care may be a risk factor for failure to obtain dental care. Any income below 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines appears to be a barrier to receiving dental care for CSHCN.

Providers of routine medical care may play an important role in linking CSHCN to dental care. Investigators need to examine other barriers to dental care for CSHCN. Strategies to optimize access to dental care for CSHCN at all income levels are needed.