November 6, 2015 — Adults enrolled in Medicaid may be living with unresolved dental problems, according to a new study. Almost half of the adults in the study who visited an emergency department (ED) for dental care did not visit a dentist in the subsequent six months, the researchers found.
The study authors looked at 2010-2012 Iowa Medicaid claims data to see how many adults visited the ED for a dental problem, and then how many of those adults saw a dentist in the months before and after the visit.
“Whether the millions of people visiting EDs for dental problems receive the dental care required to resolve their problems is a major unanswered question,” wrote the study authors, led by Astha Singhal, BDS, MPH, PhD, an assistant professor of health policy and health services research at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine (Journal of the American Dental Association, November 2, 2015).
Source: Many Medicaid adults may have unresolved dental issues – Dr. Bicuspid