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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Association Between Disability Rating and Dental Care Utilization for Low-Income Veterans Ineligible for U.S.
Kimia Imani1, Theresa Cheng2, Donald L Chi1,3
1Department of Oral Health Sciences, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, United States.
Introduction:
Poor oral health among U.S. veterans remains a significant public health issue. Compared with non-veterans, veterans experience higher rates of oral disease and unmet dental care needs, contributing to substantial oral health disparities. Most U.S. veterans are ineligible for dental care through the Veterans Affairs (VA) dental care system because of the requirement for a 100% service-connected disability rating. This pilot study evaluated the association between veterans' disability rating and dental care utilization for low-income veterans with disability ratings below 100% who sought care through Everyone for Veterans (E4V). E4V is a U.S. non-profit organization that provides dental care to low-income veterans ineligible for VA dental care.
Materials And Methods:
The analysis was based on 2014-20 data for veterans across 30 states with complete disability rating data and who utilized dental treatment during their enrollment in E4V (N = 140). Logistic regression models were used to generate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the relationships between disability rating and dental care utilization, which was categorized as basic restorative care, complex restorative care, or both.
Results:
The mean age of veterans was 49.0 years (standard deviation [SD] ± 17.6) and 87.6% were male. The mean disability rating was 38.7% (SD ± 33.6, range = 0%-90%). About 62.9% of veterans (n = 88) utilized basic restorative dental care, 76.4% (n = 107) utilized complex restorative dental care, and 40.0% utilized both (n = 56). In the confounder-adjusted model, disability rating was not significantly associated with any type of dental care utilization (basic restorative: P = .83; complex restorative: P = .51; both: P = .74).
Conclusions:
Although this study failed to observe significant associations between disability rating and restorative dental care utilization, the findings highlight the need for additional research on barriers to comprehensive dental care for veterans ineligible for VA dental care.