Does preventive dental care reduce nonpreventive dental visits and expenditures among Medicaid-enrolled adults?

Objective To determine whether preventive dental visits are associated with fewer subsequent nonpreventive dental visits and lower dental expenditures. Data Sources Indiana Medicaid enrollment and claims data (2015-2018) and the Area Health Resource File. Study Design A repeated measures design with individual and year fixed effects examining the relationship between preventive dental visits (PDVs) and nonpreventive dental visits (NPVs) and dental expenditures. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Not applicable. Principal Findings Of 28,152 adults (108,349 observation-years) meeting inclusion criteria, 36.0% had a dental visit, 27.8% a PDV, and 22.1% a NPV. Compared to no PDV in the prior year, at least one was associated with fewer NPVs (beta = -0.13; 95% CI -0.12, -0.11), lower NPV expenditures (beta = -$29.12.53; 95% CI -28.07, -21.05), and lower total dental expenditures (-$70.12; 95% -74.92, -65.31), as well as fewer PDVs (beta = -0.24; 95% CI -0.26, -0.23). Conclusions Our findings suggest that prior year PDVs are associated with fewer subsequent NPVs and lower dental expenditures among Medicaid-enrolled adults. Thus, from a public insurance program standpoint, supporting preventive dental care use may translate into improved population oral health outcomes and lower dental costs among certain low-income adult populations, but barriers to consistent utilization of PDV prohibit definitive findings.

Automated summary

This study found that preventive dental visits in the previous year are associated with fewer subsequent nonpreventive dental visits and lower dental expenditures. Supporting the use of preventive dental care may improve population oral health outcomes and reduce dental costs among certain low-income adult populations, but barriers to consistent utilization of preventive dental visits limit definitive findings.