Does Preventive Care Reduce Severe Pediatric Dental Caries?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Pediatric Dentistry

Background:

• Tertiary oral health services like surgery and sedation are costly and inefficient for improving children's oral health.
• Preventive dental care is crucial for long-term oral health outcomes in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of increased Texas Medicaid reimbursements for preventive dental care on the utilization of tertiary oral health services among children.
• To assess the association between enhanced preventive dental care access and changes in pediatric dental sedation, emergency department visits, and surgical events.

Main Methods:

• A difference-in-differences model was employed to compare children (≤9 years) enrolled in Medicaid in Texas and Florida.
• Linear regression models analyzed the effects on preventive care visits, dental sedation, emergency department use, and surgical events.

Main Results:

• Increased preventive care visits correlated with a 1.7 percentage point rise in sedation visits (P < .001) and a 0.3 percentage point decrease in emergency department visits (P < .001) for children aged 9 and under.
• No significant changes in dental surgical rates were observed following increased preventive dental care reimbursements.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced access to preventive dentistry alone was not linked to improved long-term oral health for Medicaid-enrolled children.
• Future policies should consider social determinants of health alongside preventive dentistry to effectively improve pediatric oral health outcomes.