Regular preventive dental visits for Medicaid patients were linked to improved healthcare outcomes such as lower dental costs and fewer oral surgeries, according to a recent study by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health.
The study, published Jan. 11 in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry, examined the outcomes of routine preventive dental care for approximately 186,000 Medicaid-eligible adults from states with a Medicaid adult dental benefit over a period of five years.
Compared to those without preventive dental care visits, Medicaid enrollees with regular preventive dental care visits had lower dental costs, reduced emergency department visits for nontraumatic dental conditions, fewer dental-related opioid prescriptions and fewer oral surgeries.