Browsing by Subject "dental care"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Access to Complex Dental Treatment for Patients with an Intellectual/Developmental Disability
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) West, Darlene
    Third and fourth year dental students obtain clinical experience providing dental care to intellectually and developmentally disabled community members by participating in a clinical elective course offered in the IU School of Dentistry, through a partnership with Goodwill. This partnership enables students to provide dental services in Goodwill locations. Dental students work to provide access to much needed complex dental treatments for patients with intellectual/ developmental disabilities throughout the community.
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    Expanding Access to Dental Care through Dental Hygienists
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Maxey, Hannah; Taylor, Heather
    Introduction: An estimated 64.7 million Americans suffer with dental conditions such as tooth decay and gum disease, diseases that is entirely preventable with adequate oral care [1, 2]. Access to preventive dental care continues to be an issue for vulnerable populations seeking care in Indiana. Currently, dental hygienists, clinicians who offer preventive dental services, are reporting significant challenges finding adequate employment. These clinicians have the potential to address some of Indiana’s access to dental care issues, yet there are labor market imbalances within the profession. Methods: The workforce and labor market of dental hygienists was analyzed on a national and state level. In addition, qualitative data were collected from key-informant interviews with leaders within Indiana’s dental hygiene educational programs. Through the use of a non-probability survey, graduates of dental hygiene programs were questioned on employment factors and key barriers within the labor market. Indiana’s oral health delivery system was analyzed for key opportunities to address access to care issues. Policy on dental hygiene scope of practice within Indiana is also presented. Results: The dental hygiene labor market is experiencing market saturation. Indiana has restrictive policies on dental hygienist’s scope of practice. Leaders in the profession suggest policy changes and less restrictions on the practice of dental hygiene in order to address the current access to dental care issues. Conclusion: Hoosier children are experiencing preventable disease burden, while at the same time Indiana’s workforce trained in dental disease prevention is experiencing market saturation. Recommendations to address labor market imbalances among dental hygienists are suggested as well as methods to promote preventive oral health care access.
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    Longitudinal assessment of Indiana dentists’ participation in Medicaid before and after expansion
    (Elsevier, 2022-07) Maxey, Hannah L.; Vaughn, Sierra X.; Medlock, Courtney R.; Dickinson, Analise; Wang, Yumin; Family Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background Although Medicaid expansion aims to eliminate financial barriers to health care for low-income people in the United States, health care accessibility cannot be guaranteed without clinicians who provide health care to Medicaid recipients. This study examined the characteristics of Indiana dentists that are associated with the likelihood of participating in Medicaid after expansion in 2015. Methods This study included Indiana-licensed dentists who renewed their licenses in 2018 and provided supplemental data elements related to demographics, education and training, and professional characteristics. Dentists’ Medicaid engagement behavior was categorized on the basis of when claims were submitted from 2014 through 2017. Statistical analyses included the χ2 test and generalized multinomial logit model. Results Overall, 2,037 Indiana-licensed dentists were included in the study. Of these, 802 (39.4%) were continually active in Medicaid during the study period, and 116 (5.7%) became active after expansion. Dentists had a greater likelihood of engaging in Medicaid after expansion if they were female, specialized in oral and maxillofacial surgery, practiced in a group practice, and were located in a rural county. Conclusions This study shows that dentists with certain demographic and practice characteristics had a greater likelihood of participation in Indiana Medicaid after expansion in 2015. Several findings from this study are consistent with previous research regarding the emerging trends in workforce diversity and show the impact of expansion policies on the dental safety net. Practical Implications This study presents an effective framework for the use of administrative and regulatory data sources for state-level analysis of the Medicaid safety net.
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    Social support associated with restorative treatment, professionally applied fluoride and flossing: A cross-sectional analysis including recent immigrants from Central America and Mexico in the Midwest USA
    (Wiley, 2023) Brooks, Caroline V.; Maupomé, Gerardo; Epidemiology, School of Public Health
    Objectives This study examined how Mexican and Central American immigrants' social support was associated with three selected dental outcomes among recent immigrants, prior to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Using baseline wave data from the 2017–2022 VidaSana study about the health and social networks of Mexican and Central American immigrants living in Indiana, this study utilized logistic and ordinal logistic regression to predict lifetime fluoride use, lifetime dental restoration and flossing frequency, across levels of social support and differences between Mexican and Central American immigrants. Results Data from 547 respondents were included in the present analysis (68% women; mean age 34.4 years [SD 11.2]; Central American 42%; Mexican 58%). Results show a high level of social support was associated with increased probability of fluoride use, dental restoration and higher flossing frequency for Mexican immigrants. However, social support for Central American immigrants was associated with a decreased likelihood of fluoride use, more infrequent flossing, and had no significant association with dental restorations experience. What would be a negative association between Central American immigrants and dental restoration was accounted for by education level and never having been to a dentist. Conclusions While higher social support was linked to beneficial outcomes for oral health in Mexican immigrants, the opposite was found in Central Americans. These findings highlighted the complexities of social relationships among new immigrants, and potential heterogeneity within the Hispanic population, particularly regarding social and behavioural measures as they pertain to oral health. Further research is needed to identify the underlying mechanisms producing both differences in social support and oral health outcomes.