Article Analysis & Evaluation
Limiting Dental Benefits May Lead to Hospital Emergency Department Visits for Nontraumatic Dental Conditions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebdp.2018.03.002Get rights and content

Article Title and Bibliographic Information

Does restriction of public health care dental benefits affect the volume, severity, or cost of dental-related hospital visits? Salomon D, Heidel RE, Kolokythas A, Miloro M, Schlieve T. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2017;75:467-74.

Source of Funding

Information not provided

Type of Study/Design

Retrospective cohort study

Section snippets

Subjects

The study participants were patients presenting for the management of dental pain after odontogenic infections to the University of Illinois Hospital from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013.

Materials and Methods

The sample consisted of patients diagnosed with dental pain after odontogenic infection or swelling and recorded based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. Data were retrieved from electronic health records. The sample was divided into 2 separate consecutive cohorts with

Commentary and Analysis

Hospital ED visits for dental care are a public health problem and continue to receive attention from professional organizations such as the American Dental Association, as well as from state oral health coalitions, policymakers, and dental health advocates. One main reason for this attention is the connection between hospital ED visits and access to dental care as well as the costs associated with such visits. In addition, although many articles and reports have been published on the topic,

Christopher Okunseri, BDS, MSc, MLS, DDPHRCSE, FFDRCSI, Marquette University School of Dentistry, P.O. Box 1801, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA, [email protected]

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    Citation Excerpt :

    Preventive dental care is generally unaffordable with only a fraction of Americans having some form of dental insurance. Furthermore, emergent dental problems remain common26,28–31, particularly in areas where access to dental care is limited31,32 and people can not afford to go to a dentist regularly33,34. Due to the lack of coverage, many patients seek dental care only in the context of acute pain.

Christopher Okunseri, BDS, MSc, MLS, DDPHRCSE, FFDRCSI, Marquette University School of Dentistry, P.O. Box 1801, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA, [email protected]

The study examined the effect of restricting public dental insurance coverage to emergency-only treatment on the volume, severity, and treatment costs of odontogenic infections in an urban hospital.

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