Procedures provided to Medicaid recipients by pediatric, general and public health dentists in the commonwealth of Virginia: fiscal years 1994 and 1995.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to report any differences found among the mean percentages of procedures performed by three types of dental providers for each type of service performed. The study focused on the types of services provided by dentists to Medicaid children in Virginia.


METHODS
Medicaid claims field for dental patients younger than age 21 were obtained and analyzed for fiscal years 1994 and 1995. Dental providers were categorized according to their practice: general practice (GP), pediatric dentist (PD) and public health dentist (PH). Each type of practitioner (GP, PD, and PH) was evaluated for percentages of diagnostic, preventive, and corrective services provided to their Medicaid patients. The preventive category was subdivided into preventive services (scaling, prophy, fluoride and oral hygiene instruction) and sealant services.


RESULTS
For each type of service, the mean percentages of procedures performed were compared among the three types of dental providers. The evaluation of the diagnostic procedure variable resulted in the finding that GP practitioners performed a significantly greater percentage of diagnostic procedures to their Medicaid patients than do PD and PH dentists (p < 0.0001). The percentage of preventive procedures performed by PD and GP dentists was not significantly different but was significantly lower than those performed by PH dentists (p < 0.0001). Finally, PD dentists performed a significantly greater percentage of corrective procedures than both GP and PH dentists (p > 0.0037).


CONCLUSIONS
Differences were found among the mean percentages of procedures performed by the three types of dental providers for each type of service performed.
Cooke
M R
MR
Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, USA.
Farrington
F H
FH
Huie
M
M
Meadows
S L
SL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003814:Dentistry, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005460:Fluorides, Topical; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D007347:Insurance, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants; D011476:Prosthodontics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011636:Public Health Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014768:Virginia
D005460:Fluorides, Topical; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants