Dental health

Publications

Alphabetical list. You can also view by publication date.

• Access To Dental Care For Rural Low Income And Minority Populations
  Date: 09 / 2004
  Author(s): Michelle M. Casey, Gestur Davidson, Ira Moscovice, David Born
  Research center: Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Dental health, Minority health, Poverty
  Report Number: Working Paper No. 54
  Using data from the 1999 National Health Interview Survey, this study examines the relationships between rural residence, income, race/ethnicity, and access to dental care. The study confirms that rural-urban disparities in access to dental care persist, and finds significant differences by race/ethnicity and income within rural populations in utilization of dental care, affording needed dental care, and dental insurance.
• Chartbook: Dental Health and Access to Care among Rural Children: A National and State Portrait (Full Report)
  Date: 03 / 2008
  Author(s): Amy Brock Martin, Eric Wang, Janice Probst, Nathan Hale, and Andrew Johnson
  Research center: South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Children, Dental health, Health disparities, Rural statistics and demographics
  Although children's dental health in the U.S. has improved over recent decades, a subset of children continues to suffer dental disease severe enough to constitute a public health problem. This Chartbook examines dental health status, use of preventive services, and dental insurance among rural and urban children. The Chartbook provides information specific to rural children, and in particular rural minority children, not available in similar detail from other sources. This information can be used at the state level for program planning and assessment.
• Crisis in Rural Dentistry (Policy Brief)
  Date: 04 / 2009
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Dental health, Workforce
  Rural populations have fewer dentists, lower dental care utilization, and higher rates of dental caries and permanent tooth loss than urban populations. Reports from the Surgeon General and the Institute of Medicine call for more dentists in rural locations. Federal and state programs have focused on expanding rural dentist supply to increase dental access and improve oral health, but efforts may need to intensify to meet the needs of rural communities.
• Dentist Vacancies in Federally Funded Health Centers
  Date: 12 / 2005
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Dental health, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Workforce
  Presents results for dentists from a study of staffing needs at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Provides information on dentist vacancy rates by rural and urban location. Compares dentist vacancies to other health care provider vacancies at FQHCs.
• Effect of Rural Residence On Dental Unmet Need for Children With Special Health Care Needs
  Date: 2006
  Author(s): Asheley Cockrell Skinner, Rebecca T. Slifkin, Michelle L. Mayer
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Children, Dental health, Disabilities
  Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 22(1), 36-42
  Unmet need for dental care is the most prevalent unmet health care need among children with special health care needs (CSHCN), even though these children are at a greater risk for dental problems. The combination of rural residence and special health care needs may leave rural CSHCN particularly vulnerable to high levels of unmet dental needs. Rural CSHCN are more likely to forgo needed dental care than their urban counterparts. Results suggest that rural CSHCN have unmet needs for dental care due to both difficulty accessing care and because their parents do not recognize a need.
• Rural Dental Practice: A Tale of Four States (Full Report)
  Date: 03 / 2006
  Author(s): C. Holly A. Andrilla, Denise M. Lishner, L. Gary Hart
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topic: Dental health
  Report Number: Working Paper No. 107
  Reports the findings of a study investigating rural dentist issues, such as demography, training, practice characteristics, staff, and job satisfaction, in Alabama, California, Maine, and Missouri. Generally, dentists and their work patterns were similar across the four states. Dentist practices varied dramatically across states regarding staffing patterns. Vacancy rates for dental hygienists varied greatly from state to state, ranging from 35 percent to 6 percent, while dental assistant vacancy rates varied from 12 percent to 4 percent. Dentist Medicaid participation and volume differed widely across the states. The majority of dentists in the four states were satisfied with their professional life, but the percentage who felt they were too busy or not busy enough varied widely among the states.
• Rural Dental Practice: A Tale of Four States (Project Summary)
  Date: 03 / 2006
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topic: Dental health
  Overview results of a survey of rural dentists in Alabama, California, Maine, and Missouri. Provides charts and statistics on dentist demographics, dental hygienist and dental assistant vacancy rates, and dentist participation in Medicaid. A full report is also available.