title: Access to dental care for rural children: a survey of Nebraska general dentists.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pediatric dentists are too few in number to care for all children. Therefore, the level of pediatric dental services provided by general dentists, especially in rural areas, is crucial to improving the dental health of children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objectives of the study were to establish a baseline in regard to the quantity of pediatric dental care provided by general dentists in rural Nebraska as well as to measure their interest, if any, in receiving additional pediatric training.
  
  
  METHODS
  All rural general dentists (n = 350) in the state of Nebraska received an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved 12-item questionnaire. The response rate was 71% (n = 248). Both descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted, including chi-square and the analysis of variance (ANOVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five percent of rural Nebraska dentists devote more than 20% of their practice to serving the dental needs of children. One-third of all rural Nebraska dentists indicated they would like additional training in pediatric dentistry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A significant opportunity exists to provide additional pediatric training for general dentists in rural Nebraska to further increase access to care for children.
authors: Oral Biology Department, College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583, USA. kmcfarland@unmc.edu
authors: Kimberly K
authors: KK
authors: McFarland
authors: Fouad
authors: F
authors: Salama
authors: Muhammad
authors: M
authors: Yaseen
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003815:Dentists / Q000600:supply & distribution; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009329:Nebraska; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires