Preventive dental care utilization and dental caries for Medicaid-enrolled adolescents in Oregon

Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between preventive dental care utilization and untreated dental caries for Medicaid-enrolled adolescents and to determine if the relationship is moderated by chronic conditions (CC).

Methods

This analysis was based on 2015–2016 Medicaid claims files and survey data collected from adolescents ages 12–18 years enrolled in Oregon Medicaid, who received a dental screening between December 2015 and December 2016 (n = 240). To assess the relationship between preventive dental care utilization and untreated dental caries (defined as decayed tooth surfaces), prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were generated using log-linear regression models. We also tested for an interaction between preventive dental care utilization and CC.

Results

About 60.4% of adolescents utilized preventive dental care, 21.7% had CC, and 29.6% had ≥1 decayed tooth surfaces. There were no significant differences in untreated dental caries between adolescents who did and did not utilize preventive dental care (PR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.33–1.60; p = 0.43). There was not a significant interaction between preventive dental care utilization and CC (p = 0.65). Preventive dental care utilization was not significantly associated with untreated dental caries for adolescents with CC (PR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.10–2.65; p = 0.42) nor among adolescents without CC (PR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.33–1.91; p = 0.61).

Conclusions

Preventive dental care was not shown to be associated with lower untreated dental caries for Medicaid-enrolled adolescents or those with CC. Future work that is adequately powered should continue to elucidate this relationship in Medicaid enrollees.