Regular Source of Dental Care among Low-Income Mothers

Objectives: For low-income mothers of children aged 3-6, identify factors associated with having a regular place of dental care and a regular dentist.

Methods: From a population of 108,151 Medicaid children aged 3-6 in Washington state, disproportionate stratified sampling by racial/ethnic group selected 10,909 eligible children. Mothers (n=4,373) in four racial/ethnic groups (19% African American, 31% Hispanic, 33% Caucasian, and 17% other) completed a mixed-mode(web, mail, telephone) survey in English, Spanish or Russian to collect measures of mothers' RSDC and personal and family characteristics. Logistic regression models for each racial/ethnic group identified characteristics associated with mothers having RSDC.

Results: About 38% of mothers had a regular place of dental care and 27% had a regular dentist. Higher odds of having a regular dentist were associated with greater education, income, length of residence, having dental insurance, and better mental health (p<.05). These trends were consistent across racial/ethnic groups. Among Hispanics, lower odds were associated with completing a Spanish survey. Associations with having a regular place were similar, but odds-ratios for income and insurance differed by racial/ethnic group.

Conclusion: Less than half of low-income mothers with children aged 3-6 covered by Medicaid have RSDC. Mothers' income, education, dental insurance, mental health and language were associated with having RSDC. Supported by NIDCR DE14400.