Objectives: Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD), a statewide-enhanced benefit Medicaid program, was started in 1995 to improve the oral health of Washington State preschoolers. The program has resulted in increased access. Methods: Evaluation research compared a sample of third grade children in Spokane County (an ABCD county) public schools with an equivalent sample in Pierce County (a non ABCD county) public schools seven years after the program began. The investigators hypothesized that all children in the ABCD county would have benefited from increased access and improvements in the standard of care brought about by dentists trained in the ABCD program. Results: The authors found that the children in Spokane County (SC: N=177) were healthier than the children in Pierce County (PC: N=276). Spokane children had less decayed and filled tooth primary and permanent surfaces (dfs and DFS respectively) (mean: SC=4.9±6.9 surfaces; PC=6.8±9.2 surfaces, [t= 2.4, p= 0.016]), a smaller average ratio of dfs/erupted primary surfaces (mean: SC 0.1±0.2; PC 0.2±0.2, [t=2.3, p=0.023]), more sound teeth (mean: SC=21±3 teeth; PC=20±3 teeth, [t=2.2, p=0.028]), and fewer missing primary teeth (mean: SC=0.6±1.1 teeth; PC=0.8±1.3 teeth, [t=2.1, p=0.035]) than Pierce children. Conclusion: The investigators concluded that the ABCD program appears to improve oral health in addition to increasing access. Supported, in part, by Grants No. R01 DE0982 and U5414254 from NIDCR, NIH.

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