Mapping the distribution of dentists in Kentucky using a Geographic Information System (GIS)

Kentucky (KY) faces an uneven distribution of dentists. In 2005, 99 out of 120 counties, had a dentist-population ratio lower than the national ADA figure of 6 dentists per 10,000 population. The shortage is particularly critical in the Appalachia region where the ratio is 3.8:10,000. The Medicaid population faces multiple barriers accessing dental care. In 2004, KY had 2,263 licensed dentists but only 937 billed Medicaid for services. In KY very few local health departments and community-based health centers, including community migrant, and homeless health centers have an oral health component.

Data on dentists' location from the KY's State Board of Dentistry, and socio-demographic and economic data from the KY Institute of Medicine and the US Census Bureau were utilized to assess the distribution of dentists throughout the Commonwealth using a Geographic Information System (GIS).

The dentistry workforce GIS research shows that there are disparities in the distribution of dentists in rural, urban, and Appalachian KY with private practitioners gravitating toward urban and high income areas. The poor oral health status of rural and Appalachian Kentuckians is aggravated by the lack of dentists in those regions (availability), limited dentists accepting Medicaid patients, and a lack of funding to pay for dental care (accessibility).

Understanding the distribution of dentists can result in policies and programs that address the maldistribution of providers and result in improvements in the infrastructure of dental public health programs. Availability of dentists and accessibility to the dental care delivery system would result in improved oral health outcomes.