Characteristics of Dentists Treating Children Under Age Two

Objectives: To describe characteristics of dentists in Iowa who provide care to privately insured children ages 0 through 23 months.
Methods: Dental claims data from Delta Dental of Iowa (DDIA) for CY2012 were used to identify dentists who treated any children ages 0 through 17 years, and children ages 0 through 23 months. Data were merged with the Iowa Dentist Tracking System (IDTS), which provided information about dentists’ age, sex, specialty, and dental school. Practice location was categorized as metropolitan or non-metropolitan using 2013 zip code based Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes.
Results: Of the 1,191 dentists who provided care to DDIA-enrolled children in 2012, 21% (n=248) treated at least one child under age 2. Bivariate analyses demonstrated that pediatric dentists (p<.0001), younger dentists (p<.0001), female dentists (p=.001), dentists living in metro areas (p<.0001), and graduates of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry (p=.008) were significantly more likely to treat children under age 2. Multivariable logistic regression revealed a statistically significant interaction between age and sex (p=.023); female dentists in Iowa are significantly younger than the male workforce (p<.0001). Among male dentists, University of Iowa graduation, younger age, metro location, and specializing in pediatric dentistry were all positively associated with treating children under age 2. Among female dentists, the only variable associated with treating children under age 2 was being a pediatric dentist.
Conclusions: All children in our study population had private dental benefits; however, only 7% of children under age 2 had a dental visit despite professional recommendations for a visit by age 1. Given that approximately only 1 in 5 providers treated children this young, it is reasonable to assume that workforce availability may present a barrier to care for children under age 2.