Prisons and jails hold 1.1 million people who require health services. Prison dentists who provide such services work in unique clinical settings. This study examined dental services at 3 federal and 13 state prisons, plus 73 county facilities in Kentucky. Four surveys were constructed. The first was sent to the wardens of the federal and state prisons, the second to the jailers of the county jails. The other two surveys were sent to the 89 dentists listed as serving these facilities. The surveys asked questions related to demographics, equipment/supplies, services offered, strengths/weaknesses of the job and personal security. Results: dentists who provide services do so for monetary reasons, job security or a "change of pace." Dentists reported a higher incidence of some oral conditions among inmates than found in general practice (Point Estimate of PI is .692). Inmates do not routinely receive oral exams at the time they enter the correctional facility (64%) or receive an annual/semi-annual checkup (92%). Point Estimate of PI of dentists answering "yes" to annual checkups is .0714, CI (.0018 and .339). Many dentists (40.71 %) also reported that having had a "physical/dangerous confrontation" with an inmate, while only 7.69% of the wardens reported such occurrences. Point Estimate of PI for dentists who stated there was adequate protection is .857, CI ( .572 and .982). The study shows that oral health services to prisoner populations have a number of significant differences from similar oral health service systems used to provide care to more traditional patient populations.
Learning Objectives: To describe differences in oral health care delivery systems specific to prisoner populations compared to the general population.
Keywords: Oral Health, Prisoners Health Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.