A survey of cleft team patient experience in obtaining dental care

To assess patient experiences in obtaining dental care in a team setting without an affiliated dental school.

Three hundred seventy-four patients in the cleft team database met inclusion criteria of diagnosis of cleft lip and/or palate, and current age of 7 to 12 years. Demographic information and experiences in obtaining dental care were ascertained using a standardized series of questions. A callback protocol was employed to maximize response rate. Results were analyzed with t-tests using contingency tables.

One hundred seventy-one parents/caregivers were interviewed of a possible 374 (response rate 45.7%). Mean age was 9.87 years. The insurance distribution was as follows: 113 private insurance (66.1%), 35 Medicaid (20.5%), and 23 had no insurance (13.5%). The dental checkup distribution was as follows: 145 regular dental checkups (84.8%) and 26 no regular checkups (15.2%). Patients with private insurance were more likely to obtain dental care than were patients with Medicaid (p = .002) or patients without insurance (p = .0027). Patients with Medicaid were more likely to report provider refusal of care than were patients with private insurance (p = .0001) or patients without insurance (p = .0001). Patients with private insurance were more likely to report satisfaction with their dental care than were patients with Medicaid (p = .0003).

We report an 84.8% regular checkup rate among our study population and a significantly different reported experience in obtaining care depending on insurance type. The reasons underlying the differences between privately insured patients and Medicaid patients appear multifactorial.