In Benchmarking

61% of people willing to receive vaccines at dental office

A majority of people — 61 percent — would be willing to undergo preventive medical care, such as receiving vaccinations or blood pressure checks, at a dental office, according to a survey from The Pew Charitable Trusts and Boston-based Harvard School of Dental Medicine that was conducted in 2018.

Pew and Harvard polled 423 Medicaid and 405 privately insured adults to get a better sense of the barriers to care faced by both groups.

Patients with private dental insurance are more likely to see a dentist than those with Medicaid (64 percent compared to 47 percent). Around 42 percent of Medicaid patients reported barriers to visiting a dentist compared to 20 percent of privately insured patients.

Cost was the most frequently cited barrier for both groups. Twenty percent of Medicaid and 7 percent of privately insured patients said they had gone to the emergency room for oral health problems.

Around 60 percent of respondents said they would be willing to receive preventative dental care, such as oral health screenings or fluoride varnishes, from a physician, nurse or other training medical professional.

The survey also found 71 percent of people would be willing to receive dental care from dental therapists.

To access the full report, click here.

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