Falling between the cracks: oral health survey of school children ages five to thirteen having limited access to dental services.
A study of 367 Indianapolis school children ages five to thirteen revealed that there are a significant number of children in our society who suffer from untreated dental caries and gingivitis, chiefly because of insurmountable financial barriers. Their poor socioeconomic status makes them eligible for free lunch at school, but their family incomes are not low enough to permit them to receive the benefits of Medicaid coverage. The following conclusions can be made. Children falling into category 2 (i.e., those who get free lunch at school, but do not receive financial aid) are "falling between the cracks." These children have the highest caries and gingivitis scores as compared with the rest of the examined children. Category 2 children have more caries and gingivitis, and fewer filled teeth than children in category 1 whose parents' incomes are even lower, thereby allowing them to receive Medicaid coverage. These findings provide justification for including category 2 children with Medicaid coverage. There is a great need for organized oral health preventive and educational programs targeted at category 2 children.
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Indiana University, Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, Indianapolis.
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D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005522:Food Services; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007196:Indiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D007347:Insurance, Dental; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D011203:Poverty; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States