Dentist supply and children's oral health in the United States

Carol C Guarnizo-Herreño; George L Wehby

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302139

Back

Dentist supply and children's oral health in the United States

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Dentist supply and children's oral health in the United States

Carol C Guarnizo-Herreño and George L Wehby

American journal of public health (1971), Vol.104(10), pp.e51-e57

10/2014

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302139

PMCID: PMC4167104

PMID: 25122013

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302139View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

We evaluated the relationship between dentist supply and children's oral health and explored heterogeneity by children's age and urbanicity. We obtained data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health (>27,000 children aged 1-10 years; >23,000 children aged 11-17 years). We estimated the association between state-level dentist supply and multiple measures of children's oral health using regression analysis adjusting for several child, family, and population-level characteristics. Dentist supply was significantly related to better oral health outcomes among children aged 1 to 10 years. The odds of decay and bleeding gums were lower by more than 50% (odds ratio [OR]=0.46; 95% CI=0.23, 0.95) and 80% (OR=0.18; 95% CI=0.05, 0.76), respectively, with an additional dentist per 1000 population. The odds of a worse maternal rating of child's dental health on a 5-category scale from poor to excellent were lower by about 50% in this age group with an additional dentist per 1000 population (OR=0.51; 95% CI=0.29, 0.91). We observed associations only for children in urban settings. Dentist supply is associated with improved oral health for younger children in urban settings.

Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data

Residence Characteristics

Age Factors

Dentists - supply & distribution

United States

Humans

Child, Preschool

Infant

Male

Socioeconomic Factors

Dental Caries - epidemiology

Dental Care for Children - statistics & numerical data

Adolescent

Sex Factors

Female

Health Status

Child

Oral Health - statistics & numerical data

Periodontal Diseases - epidemiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Dentist supply and children's oral health in the United States
Creators: Carol C Guarnizo-Herreño - Carol C. Guarnizo-Herreño is with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK, and the Departamento de Salud Colectiva, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia. George L. Wehby is with the Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, and the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA
George L Wehby
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: American journal of public health (1971), Vol.104(10), pp.e51-e57
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302139
PMID: 25122013
PMCID: PMC4167104
NLM abbreviation: Am J Public Health
ISSN: 0090-0036
eISSN: 1541-0048
Publisher: United States
Language: English
Date published: 10/2014
Academic Unit: Preventive and Community Dentistry; Health Management and Policy; Economics; Public Policy Center (Archive)
Record Identifier: 9984064199102771

Metrics

34 Record Views

22 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details