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The Muscatine Pediatric Dentistry Clinic (MPDC) at the Muscatine Center for Social Action (MCSA) was established January 4th, 2005. It is a partnership between the MCSA and The University of Iowa's Department of Pediatric Dentistry. MPDC operates Tuesdays (care provided by senior dental students) and Thursdays (care provided by pediatric dentistry residents). Students and residents are supervised by a pediatric dentistry faculty member. MPDC's mission is to provide dental care to low income children residing in Muscatine and Louisa counties, in Iowa. Care includes diagnostic, preventive, restorative, and emergency services. MPDC targets a population that has been traditionally underserved by local dentists including Medicaid-enrolled children and low income children without dental insurance. MPDC offers dental students the opportunity to gain experience treating children with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of practicing general dentists who serve pediatric populations. MPDC completed 6 years of operation on January 4th, 2010. The main goals of this study were to describe patient characteristics, clinical activities and parental satisfaction at the Muscatine clinic and to compare characteristics of the Muscatine clinic to those of the University of Iowa's pediatric dentistry clinic at the College of Dentistry. Clinical activities and patient profile variables for MPDC were reported for the entire fiscal year 2009-10 year. Variables include patient age, gender, type of insurance, number of dental procedures completed, type of treatment received, and number of visits per patient.
A satisfaction survey was given to the parent of each patient presenting to the MPDC clinic between November 16th, 2009 and January 17th, 2010. Two broad research questions were addressed in this study: 1) Are parents satisfied with MPDC and the treatment provided to their children? 2) Are there are differences in the population served and treatment provided at the Muscatine clinic and the University of Iowa pediatric dentistry clinic at the College of Dentistry? The results of this study provide information that contributes to a fuller understanding about the population served by MPDC, the treatment received, and parental satisfaction with the clinic. It also compares characteristics of the Muscatine clinic to the University of Iowa's pediatric dentistry clinic at the College of Dentistry. The results of this study may help guide MPDC staff and the University of Iowa's Department of Pediatric Dentistry in future decision-making regarding clinic activities and dental school curriculum.