Disparities in children's access to dental care in a large metropolitan area

Children's oral health has improved greatly from a generation ago, yet dental caries remains the most common chronic childhood disease. According to the 2000 Surgeon General's Report, the burden of oral diseases amounts to a silent epidemic, particularly impacting low-income children and children of color. This presentation will examine the range of dental care disparities among children within a major metropolitan area. Our analysis uses data from the PHMC 2006 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey, a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 10,100 households in Philadelphia and surrounding PA counties, including households with children ages 0-17. Information was obtained regarding the health of a selected child, including dental health care for children 4-17. Preliminary findings indicate disparities in frequency of dental visits and prevalence of unmet dental needs. Children living below 200% of the federal poverty guideline (20.9%) were three times more likely to not have had a dental visit within the previous year, compared to children living at or above 200% poverty (7.6%). Latino children (14.8%) were 4 times and Black/African-American (9.7%) children were 2.5 times more likely than white children (4.2%) to have an unmet need for dental care due to the cost of care. Uninsured children (39.3%) were over seven times more likely to have an unmet dental need due to cost, compared to insured children (7.9%). Predictors of unmet dental needs among children will be examined in greater detail, as well as trends in children's access to dental care from 1996 to 2006.