Dental Visit in Kansas

Kansas

Oral health is a vital component of overall health. Oral diseases such as tooth decay, dental caries (cavities) and periodontal (gum) disease are common and can cause pain, tooth loss and oral infection if left undiagnosed and untreated. One in five adults ages 20-64 in the United States has untreated cavities. 

Poor oral health can result in additional complications for individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes. 

Cost of care is the most common reason reported for not having visited the dentist within the past year, even among adults with private dental insurance.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, populations with a higher prevalence of an annual dental visit include:

• Asian and white adults compared with American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, multiracial and Black adults.
• College graduates compared with adults with less than a high school education.
• Adults with an annual household income of $75,000 or more compared with those with incomes less than $25,000.

Moreover, uninsured or underinsured adults are less likely to receive necessary dental care than those with insurance.

Some states have allowed mid-level dental professionals, such as dental therapists, to provide routine preventive and restorative treatment typically only performed by dentists. Such expansions of the dental workforce have increased access to cost-effective essential services, particularly for underserved populations.

Other strategies to meet the dental needs of underserved groups include:

• Integrating oral health care as an essential part of overall health care.
• Increasing access to oral health care and expanding dental health care capacity.
• Decreasing financial barriers to dental care.
• Supporting dental students of diverse backgrounds, including minority, low-income and rural students.
• Increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to dental care providers.
• Training dental care providers in cultural sensitivity and providing interpretation services to remove cultural and language barriers. 

School-based cavity prevention programs effectively increase children's dental care access. These programs offer multicomponent cavity prevention provided by dental hygienists at schools.

Healthy People 2030 has several oral health objectives, including increasing the proportion of children, adolescents and adults who have used the oral health care system in the past year.

Institute of Medicine, Committee on Oral Health Access to Services, and National Research Council, eds. Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.17226/13116.

Koppelman, Jane, Kelly Vitzthum, and Lisa Simon. “Expanding Where Dental Therapists Can Practice Could Increase Americans’ Access To Cost-Efficient Care.” Health Affairs 35, no. 12 (December 1, 2016): 2200–2206. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0844.

Northridge, Mary E., Anjali Kumar, and Raghbir Kaur. “Disparities in Access to Oral Health Care.” Annual Review of Public Health 41, no. 1 (April 2, 2020): 513–35. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094318.

Starr, Jacqueline R., Ryan R. Ruff, Joseph Palmisano, J. Max Goodson, Omair M. Bukhari, and Richard Niederman. “Longitudinal Caries Prevalence in a Comprehensive, Multicomponent, School-Based Prevention Program.” The Journal of the American Dental Association 152, no. 3 (March 1, 2021): 224-233.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2020.12.005.

Vujicic, Marko, Thomas Buchmueller, and Rachel Klein. “Dental Care Presents The Highest Level Of Financial Barriers, Compared To Other Types Of Health Care Services.” Health Affairs 35, no. 12 (December 2016): 2176–82. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0800.