Association between Medical Well-Child Visits and Dental Preventive Visits: A Big Data Report

This study evaluated the impact of well-child visits (WCVs) on promoting preventive visits to the dentist. Effects by age, race, gender, and dental diagnosis were investigated.

Administrative claims data for 1.85 million Medicaid-enrolled children aged 4 or less in 13 states in 2013 were identified from the Truven MarketScan Medicaid Database. A cohort for all children who had a WCV in 2013 was generated and followed for 365 d to identify the date of closest preventive dental visit.

The cohort included 1,308,719 Medicaid-enrolled children with a WCV in 2013. Three percent of children under the age of 1 with a WCV had an oral health assessment within 1 y compared to only 0.4% of all Medicaid-enrolled children in that age group. Similar patterns were seen in all age groups: age 1 (13% vs. 9%), age 2 (32% vs. 23%), age 3 (50% vs. 37%), and age 4 (59% vs. 48%). On average, about 1.4% of children received an oral health assessment during their WCV, and another 0.6% were diagnosed with a dental condition. These children had a higher proportion of visits to the dentist for a preventive visit after a WCV. Children of all races (White, Hispanic, and Black) with a prior WCV had higher preventive dental compared to total enrolled. However, Hispanic children with a WCV reported the highest preventive dental visits within 1 y (White 24%, Black 29%, and Hispanic 46%). Furthermore, Hispanic children visited the dentist earlier than White and Black children; 16.9% of Hispanic children visited the dentist within 90 d of the WCV compared to 8.5% of White and 10% of Black children.

This study demonstrated increased utilization of dental preventive visits for the children who received a well-child visit.

Results of this study indicate a higher number of preventive dental visits for children with prior WCV. Clinical implications of this study would be to continually increase and promote the inclusion of oral health within primary care. This can increase the likelihood of preventative dental visits and, ultimately, better dental health in children.