Incarceration History, Dental Care Utilization, and Oral Health Difficulties Among U.S. Military Veterans

To examine whether a history of incarceration is associated with self-reported dental care utilization and oral health difficulties among low-income U.S. military veterans.

Data were from Wave 5 of the National Veteran Homeless and Other Poverty Experiences study (N = 1384). Weighted logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were estimated to examine the association between a history of incarceration and (a) dental care utilization, and (b) oral health difficulties, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, military, and health insurance characteristics.

In covariate-adjusted models, veterans with a history of incarceration had significantly higher odds of not having a dental visit in the past year compared to those without prior incarceration (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.393, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.357, 4.219, p = 0.003), and reporting a higher relative risk of occasional oral health difficulties in the past 3 months (RRR = 1.856, 95% CI = 1.027, 3.353, p = 0.034) compared to never/hardly ever experiencing difficulties.

A history of incarceration may represent an important social driver of dental care utilization and oral health difficulties among veterans. Potential programmatic responses through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the criminal justice system are discussed.