Adults living in rural communities with limited access to dental care, in addition to gaps in Medicaid dental coverage, are more likely to rely on hospitals for emergency dental care, according to a new study.
Often, the costly and ineffective emergency care for non-traumatic dental conditions could have been treated much earlier in a dental office.
Here are five notes from the study:
- Medicaid enrollees who live in rural areas are significantly more likely to go to the emergency department for dental issues compared to Medicaid enrollees in urban areas.
- States that do not provide Medicaid adult dental benefits have the highest rates of dental visits to emergency departments.
- Uninsured adults, regardless of whether they live in rural or urban areas, are the most likely to visit the emergency room for dental care.
- Underlying dental problems often go untreated in hospitals, leading to an increased risk of patients returning to the emergency room.
- The research was led by Texas A&M University College of Dentistry and sponsored by Delta Dental.
