Overview of dental professional access gaps
Why should you learn about silver diamine fluoride?
Dental caries is a chronic progressive disease. Lack of access to care allows untreated disease to progress.
This map illustrates the percent of dental need met by state, with darker colors indicating a higher percentage of people with dental needs met. In September 2022, only 12 states had the highest category, indicating more than 41% of dental needs met.
We are not meeting the dental need.
- 70 million people live in dental health professional shortage areas.
- Only 38% of older adults have dental insurance, while 92% have health insurance.
- One in 50 adult Medicaid beneficiaries visits an emergency department for tooth decay every year.
- Only 2% of children under the age of 2 have seen a dental team, but the typical 2-year-old has seen a medical team 10 times.
- 112 million Americans see a medical team but not a dental team each year.
When mapped in more detail, we see that dental professional shortage gaps are seen in both urban and rural areas, and that some patients may need to travel long distances to obtain dental care.
References:
KFF. (2024, January 31). Dental Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). Retrieved January 31, 2024 from https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/dental-care-health-professional-shortage-areas-hpsas
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (n.d.) Medicaid Adult Beneficiaries Emergency Department Visits for Non-Traumatic Dental Conditions. Retrieved October 6, 2024 from https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/downloads/adult-non-trauma-dental-ed-visits.pdf
Kolstad C, Zavras A, &Yoon R. (2015). Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Age One Dental Visit for the Privately Insured. Pediatr Dent. 2015 Jul-Aug;37(4):376-80. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26314607/
Manski R, Rohde F, & Ricks T. (2021). Trends in the Number and Percentage of the Population with any Dental or Medical Visits, 2003-2018. (Statistical Brief #537). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://meps.ahrq.gov//data_files/publications/st537/stat537.shtml
Health Resources & Services Administration. (2024, October 6). Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) - Dental Health. Retrieved October 6, 2024 from https://data.hrsa.gov/ExportedMaps/MapGallery/HPSADC.pdf
Center for Disease Control. (2024, May 15). Health Disparities in Oral Health. Retrieved October 6, 2024 from https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/health-equity/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/oral_health_disparities/index.htm