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Updated: Nov 15, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Emergency department visits for dental problems among adults with private dental insurance: A national observational
Troy B Amen1, Inkyu Kim2, Gregory Peters2
1Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Objective:
Dental insurance may be a protective factor in reducing unnecessary emergency department (ED) use for nontraumatic dental pain. The purpose of this study was to 1) characterize patient demographics and identify risk factors associated with ED utilization for dental problems among individuals dually enrolled in medical and dental insurance and 2) investigate antibiotic and opioid prescription patterns among these patients following discharge. Further study of this unique population may provide insight into other causes of unmet dental need beyond lack of dental insurance.
Methods:
Claims data from a large national managed health care plan from 2015 to 2018 were used to evaluate ED use for dental problems in patients with synchronous medical and dental insurance. National counts for ED visits, total visit costs, primary diagnoses, and outpatient treatments for antibiotics and opioids were assessed. Multivariable regression was used to assess any associated demographic and health-related variables.
Results:
1492 unique patients were admitted to the ED for dental pain and 429,376 unique patients presented for other symptoms. Utilization rates for nontraumatic dental pain were estimated to be 0.4% of all ED visits, with an average cost of $1487 per visit. Within three days following discharge from the ED, 58% of patients filled an opioid prescription and 38% filled an antibiotic prescription. Patients who presented for dental ED pain were more likely to be younger, live in a ZIP code with a lower median household income, have more medical comorbidities, and receive fewer preventive dental procedures within the prior year.
Conclusion:
Our findings demonstrate a low rate of ED utilization for nontraumatic dental pain among dentally insured patients and highlight the protective value of prior dental visits for reducing ED use. Given high rates of antibiotic and opioid prescription fill following discharge, comprehensive ED guidelines regarding appropriate antibiotic and opioid treatment pathways may be helpful to provide more definitive care to patients with dental insurance.
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