title: Oral health equity and unmet dental care needs in a population-based sample: findings from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We used objective oral health screening and survey data to explore individual-, psychosocial-, and community-level predictors of oral health status in a statewide population of adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined oral health status in a sample of 1453 adult Wisconsin residents who participated in the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin Oral Health Screening project, conducted with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services during 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found significant disparities in oral health status across all individual-, psychosocial-, and community-level predictors. More than 15% of participants had untreated cavities, and 20% did not receive needed oral health care. Individuals who self-reported unmet need for dental care were 4 times as likely to have untreated cavities as were those who did not report such a need, after controlling for sociodemographic and behavioral factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggested that costs were a primary predictor of access to care and poor oral health status. The results underscored the role that primary care, in conjunction with dental health care providers, could play in promoting oral health care, particularly in reducing barriers (e.g., the costs associated with unmet dental care) and promoting preventive health behaviors (e.g., teeth brushing).
authors.affiliation: Kristen Malecki, Lauren E. Wisk, Matthew Walsh, Christine McWilliams, and Shoshannah Eggers are with the Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Melissa Olson is with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Oral Health Program, Madison.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Malecki
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wisk
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McWilliams
authors.forename: Shoshannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eggers
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003729:Dental Care; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D014922:Wisconsin