Dental visits and access to dental care among Maryland schoolchildren.
BACKGROUND
Regular dental visits afford an opportunity for dentists to provide preventive services and to diagnose and treat disease. Not all children, however, have equal access to these services.


METHODS
The authors conducted this study to describe access to and utilization of oral health care services for Maryland schoolchildren in kindergarten and third grade. They obtained data from a questionnaire filled out by parents or guardians participating in the Survey of the Oral Health Status of Maryland School Children, 2000-2001 (N = 2,642). Outcome variables included having a dental visit in the last year, prophylaxis in the last year, usual source of medical care and usual source of dental care. Descriptor variables included region, grade, race/ethnicity, eligibility for free or reduced-fee meals, parents' or guardians' education and dental insurance status.


RESULTS
Overall, general dental visit and dental prophylaxis visit rates were similar (74.1 and 71.3 percent, respectively). Schoolchildren, however, were more likely to have had a usual source of medical care than of dental care (96.0 and 82.9 percent, respectively). Third graders, those ineligible for free or reduced-fee meals and those with some dental insurance coverage were more likely to have received a prophylaxis in the last year and were more likely to have a usual source of dental care. Non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black schoolchildren also were more likely to have had a usual source of dental care than were Hispanics.


CONCLUSIONS
Schoolchildren most likely to have received regular preventive dental care were those who had parents or guardians with financial resources. Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provide safety nets, but these programs could be improved.


CONCLUSIONS
Dentistry's challenge is to determine which characteristics are unique to those who visit the dentist regularly and use this information to help meet the needs of the underserved.
Macek
Mark D
MD
Department of Health Promotion and Policy, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery Dental School, University of Maryland, 21201-1586, USA.
Wagner
Mark L
ML
Goodman
Harold S
HS
Manz
Michael C
MC
Marrazzo
Ilise D
ID
D001741:Black or African American; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007347:Insurance, Dental; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008396:Maryland; D008484:Medicaid; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People