Forty percent of U.S. parents haven't tried to take their child to the dentist for preventive care since the pandemic began, with most citing concerns related to COVID-19, according to an Ipsos poll by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Researchers analyzed data from a national sample of 1,882 parents about getting preventive dental care for their children aged 3-18 years during the pandemic. The survey was administered in January and published Feb. 15.
Five key findings:
1. Sixty percent of parents have tried to get preventive dental care for their child since the pandemic started. Of these parents, most (69 percent) say they got an appointment, while 24 percent say they received an appointment after a delay, and 7 percent said they weren't able to get an appointment.
2. Of parents unable to get an appointment, 15 percent had Medicaid dental coverage, compared to those with private dental insurance (4 percent) or no coverage (5 percent).
3. Among parents who were not trying to take their children to the dentist, 40 percent said they didn't want to risk a COVID-19 exposure, while 23 percent said the dentist office was closed or only seeing urgent patients. Other parents said their child was not due for dental care (23 percent) and/or was not having dental problems (28 percent).
4. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they think it's safe for their child to get dental care, while 14 percent felt it wasn't safe and 19 percent were unsure.
5. More than a quarter (28 percent) of parents said their child's oral health habits have improved during the pandemic.