State Policy Levers for Addressing Preventive Dental Care Disparities for Rural Children

The South Carolina Rural Health Research Center at the Arnold School of Public Health, the University of South Carolina is pleased to announce the release of a new final report. The report, entitled “State Policy Levers for Addressing Preventive Dental Care Disparities for Rural Children: Medicaid Reimbursement to Non-Dental Clinicians for Fluoride Varnish and Dental Hygiene Supervision in Primary Care Safety Net Settings”, is authored by Amy Brock Martin, DrPH, Jessica Bellinger, PhD, Jeff Hatala, PhD, Jordan Mitchell, MBA, Janice Probst PhD, with consultation from Burton Edelstein, DMD, MPH.

Previous work has found that rural children are less likely to receive preventive dental services or any dental services at all, during the year than are urban children. The children’s oral health care safety net can be characterized in terms of the settings in which care is offered, the clinicians who offer it, and the sources of payment. In this report we examine two questions:

1. To what degree have states expanded access to and reimbursement of fluoride varnish applications by allowing non-dental clinicians to provide this service?
2. To what extent can dental hygienists provide select preventive dental services in primary care safety net settings without supervision or under general, indirect, or public health supervision?

Read the executive summary and full report for more information on the findings.