title: Early Impact of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansion on Dental Care Use.
abstract: To examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act on dental care use among poor adults ages 21-64 in 2014.
  
  
  
  2010-2014 Gallup-Healthways Wellbeing Index Survey.
  
  
  
  Among poor adults with income at or below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level, a differences-in-differences analysis was used to compare the changes in dental care use in states with different Medicaid expansion and adult dental policies.
  
  
  
  Relative to the pre-reform period and other states, in Medicaid expansion states with adult dental benefits, dental care use increased between 2 and 6 percent points in the second half of 2014, but most of these changes were not statistically significant.
  
  
  
  Early evidence suggests that the Affordable Care Act may either not be having a substantial impact on dental care use or it is too early to assess the impact.
authors.affiliation: Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Kamyar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nasseh
authors.affiliation: Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vujicic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States
keywords: Medicaid; dental care; health reform