Impact on Dental Utilization of the Integration of Oral Health in Pediatric Primary Care Through Quality Improvement

Objectives:To evaluate child-level dental utilization and expenditure outcomes based on if and where children received fluoride varnish (FV) at quality improvement (QI) medical practices, at non-QI medical practices, at dental practices, or those who never received FV from any practice. Design:Retrospective claims-based analysis cohort study. Setting:Children with Medicaid insurance through an Ohio pediatric accountable care organization. Participants:Children aged 1 to 5 years with 1 or more well-child visits between 2015 and 2017. Intervention:FV receipt versus no FV. Among children who received FV, categorized if FV delivered by a QI-participating medical provider, a non-QI-participating medical provider, and a dental provider. Main Outcome Measure:Dental claims from 2014 to 2019 were collected for preventive dental visits, caries-related treatment visits, dental general anesthesia (GA) visit, and emergency department visit for a dental problem to examine utilization patterns, expenditures, and dental outcomes. Results:The QI group had a significantly higher incidence of preventive dental visits than the dental (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91-0.96) or non-QI groups (IRR = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.84-0.88). Compared with the QI group, the non-QI (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.6; 95% CI, 2.4-2.9) and dental (aOR = 2.9; 95% CI, 2.6-3.3) groups were significantly more likely to have caries-related treatment visits. The dental group children were significantly more likely to have dental treatment under GA than the QI group (aOR = 5.3; 95% CI, 2.0-14.4). Conclusions:Children seen at QI practices appear to have an increased uptake of preventive dental services, which may explain the lower incidence of dental caries visits and GA treatment.