title: Pediatric dental clinic location and utilization in a high-resource setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine dental utilization by Medicaid-insured children living in a high-resource area. Characterize distance and travel-related variables to accessing care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional data were collected on dental clinics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, caring for Medicaid-insured children ≥1 year. Shortest distances, drive times, and bus travel between dental clinics and high-poverty census tracts were determined through geographical information systems analysis. Primary care clinic (PCC) survey data were analyzed for children's dental use. Demographic characteristics and travel-related variables were compared between children who had and had not been to a dentist.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten dental clinics accepted Medicaid-insured children ≥1 year. Mean distance between high-poverty census tracts and their nearest clinic was 1.2 miles [standard deviation (SD) 0.2 miles], with mean bus travel time 15.6 minutes (SD 12.3 minutes). Overall, 46 percent of PCC children reported a dental visit, and this was not significantly different between those who lived in a high-poverty census tract versus those who did not (41 percent and 35 percent, respectively, P = 0.58). Children traveled a mean distance of 4.75 miles (SD 2.37 miles) to their dental clinic. Mean distance to their nearest dental clinic was 2.81 miles (SD 2.12 miles).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental clinics in a high-resource area are in close proximity to where young Medicaid-insured children live; and distances between children's homes and dental clinics are not significantly different between children who had and had not reported a dental visit, suggesting that barriers persist despite close proximity. Regardless, closer proximity may contribute to the higher utilization of services observed compared with national rates.
authors: Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
authors: S Amanda
authors: SA
authors: Dumas
authors: School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors: Deborah
authors: D
authors: Polk
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003740:Dental Clinics; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry; D014481:United States
keywords: dental care for children; early childhood caries; geographical information systems; health services accessibility