DENTAL CARE
Access to oral health care is a significant problem
for low-income children. Analysis of the 1999 National
Survey of America's Families found that nearly one
in ten low-income children had an unmet need for dental
care. Slightly more than 30 percent of low-income
children had not been to the dentist in the last year
and almost 60 percent had not received the two dental
checkups in the last year as recommended by the American
Academy of Pediatrics.
Use of dental care among low-income children varies
by a number of demographic characteristics. Low-income
children who have not had a dental visit in the last
year are more likely to be younger, uninsured, Hispanic,
and born outside of the United States. These children
are also more likely to have parents who did not graduate
from high school or earn a GED and lived in the southern
or western states.
Although many dental problems can be prevented with
regular screening and preventative services, these
services are not always available to those children
who need them most. In Federal Fiscal Year 1999, only
19 percent of children eligible for dental services
under the Medicaid Early and Preventive Screening,
Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program received
a preventive dental service.
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