The Relationship Between Incarceration History and Dental Care and Oral Health in the United States: A Scoping Review

To conduct a scoping review of observational quantitative studies examining the association between prior incarceration and (1) dental care use, (2) dental insurance coverage, and (3) oral health outcomes among US adults.

A search strategy was implemented across 5 electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Embase). Additional manual searches of Google Scholar and reference lists were conducted. Screening and study selection followed PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included if they examined US community-dwelling adults (≥ 18 years), compared individuals with and without a history of incarceration, and reported dental care or oral health outcomes.

The search identified 2006 articles; 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Eight studies examined dental care utilization, 2 examined dental insurance coverage, and 4 examined oral health outcomes. Across studies, prior incarceration was consistently associated with lower dental care use, higher unmet dental need, lower likelihood of dental insurance coverage, and poorer self-reported oral health. Several associations were attenuated after adjustment for socioeconomic status, health insurance, wealth, health behaviors, or chronic disease.

The published evidence to date indicates that formerly incarcerated adults experience substantial disparities in dental care access and oral health. Future research should incorporate clinical oral health assessments, leverage administrative and electronic health records, and test policy and practice interventions to reduce oral health disparities among formerly incarcerated populations.