When do pediatric patients on Medicaid have their first dental visit?

Investigators may have uncovered the proportion of pediatric patients enrolled in Medicaid who visited a dentist at the age of 1.

In the study, published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry, the investigators used Medicaid claims data to examine uptake on the recommended age 1 dental visit and the age at first dental visit among 17,675 pediatric patients aged zero to 5 years residing in Ohio between 2017 and 2021.

The investigators discovered that just under 3% of the patients visited the dentist at the age of 1. Instead, the mean age at first dental visit was just under 5 years. However, the patients who received fluoride varnish at their pediatric medical home were nearly one year younger than those who didn’t receive the varnish and had a lower likelihood of visiting the dentist as a result of caries.

The investigators concluded that integrating preventive care in early childhood could help improve the oral health of pediatric patients.

Read more: Journal of Public Health Dentistry

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