Availability of dental appointments for young children in King County, Washington: implications for access to care.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of dental offices in King County willing to provide a new appointment to young children and young children on Medicaid.


METHODS
A simulated parent phone call was made to 508 randomly chosen dental offices in King County. Of these, 291 offices provided preventive dental care to children. Data were collected on: (1) youngest age seen (options ranged from less than 1 to older than 5 years); (2) whether Medicaid was accepted; and (3) time to first available appointment.


RESULTS
In King County, more than 99% of dental offices providing care to children would see new patients 5 years of age or older, but only 15% of these offices would accept 5-year-olds on Medicaid. Nine percent of dental offices accepted patients younger than 1 for a new preventive visit, but just 3% accepted Medicaid-insured children in this age group.


CONCLUSIONS
Adhering to recommendations for early initiation of dental care is difficult, given the limited availability of dental appointments for young and Medicaid-insured children.
Smith
Richard G
RG
Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Lewis
Charlotte W
CW
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States; D014850:Waiting Lists; D014861:Washington; D000078329:Workforce