Dental Utilization of Refugee Children in Washington State Varies by Demographic Characteristics

Purpose: To assess factors associated with the dental utilization of refugee children in Washington state who received oral health care. Methods: This study used Medicaid data of newly arrived children who resettled in 2015. Demographics, refugee population density groups, special care needs, dates of dental encounters, and dental claim variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression analysis, and the Cox proportional-hazard ratios (P<0.05). Results: Among 1,125 children, 78 percent had at least one dental claim. The majority were under six years (37 percent), male (55 percent), and without disabilities (98 percent). On average children started using dental care within 6.0 months (±4.0 standard deviation) of resettlement (median equals 4.4; interquartile range [IQR] equals 2.6 to 10.3). White children had the greatest mean number of dental claims, whereas Black children had the least (P<0.001). Children from the low-volume refugee population density group were significantly less likely to have a dental claim than children from the medium-volume refugee population density group (P<0.001). Compared to 13- to 21-year-olds, children aged zero to seven years and seven to 13 years had a 46.7 percent (95 percent confidence interval [95% CI] equals 24.9 to 72.3 percent) and 54.8 percent (95% CI equals 30.3 to 83.9 percent) significantly increased likelihood of having their first dental claim (P<0.001). Conclusions: A large percentage (78 percent) of children newly resettled in the state of Washington utilized at least one dental service. Age, race, and refugee population density group were significantly associated with utilization within the initial 12 months after resettlement.