| 0717 Comparing Children’s Dental Treatment Status in Publicly Funded Insurance Programs | ||
|
T. HUGHES, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA, R.G. ROZIER, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, and G.D. SLADE, University of Adelaide, Australia Publicly insured children have lower rates of dental utilization and more untreated dental disease than privately insured children. North Carolina has two public insurance programs that provide dental benefits to children, Medicaid and a separate S-CHIP program, N.C. Health Choice for Children (NCHC), which is structured similar to private insurance. Objectives: This study examines untreated dental caries for children enrolled in Medicaid and NCHC and how their dental treatment status is influenced by the use of dental services. Methods: Administrative and claims data were obtained for children enrolled in Medicaid and NCHC (n=23,936) and eligible for dental services during (Oct 99 to Sep 00). Their dental services use was defined as having at least one dental claim during that year. Dental health status was obtained for the subsequent year (Sep 00-Jun 01) through a calibrated oral screening of kindergarten children and enrolled children were matched with the Medicaid files. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to compare the effect of dental use in the two insurance programs on the dental treatment status of children. Results: Children enrolled in Medicaid and NCHC were 1.7 times (95% CI=1.69-1.81) and 1.3 times (95% CI=1.17-1.44), respectively, more likely to have untreated disease then non-enrolled children. The likelihood of enrolled children having untreated disease was modified by whether or not children had used dental services. NCHC children who used dental services were 0.80 times (95% CI=0.65-0.98) less likely to have untreated disease (22% vs. 26%) than those who did not use services, while use did not significantly affect untreated disease in Medicaid children (30% vs. 31%). Conclusion: Although kindergarten children enrolled in public insurance programs had more untreated dental disease than non-enrolled children, those in the NCHC program had greater use and less untreated dental disease than those in Medicaid. Supported by grant: AHRQ #R03HS11514-01. | ||
| Seq #88 - Quality of Life, Dental Anxiety, and Use of Services 10:15 AM-11:30 AM, Thursday, 11 March 2004 Hawaii Convention Center Exhibit Hall 1-2 | ||
|
Back to the Behavioral Sciences/Health Services Research Program
| ||