Open AccessDisparities in the Quality of Pediatric Dental Care: New Research and Needed Changes
Author(s) -
Reich Stephanie M.,
Hoeft Kristin S.,
Díaz Guadalupe,
Ochoa Wendy,
Gaona Amy
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
social policy report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2379-3988
DOI - 10.1002/sop2.2
Subject(s) - medicaid , socioeconomic status , extant taxon , ethnically diverse , oral health , medicine , family medicine , quality (philosophy) , dental care , health care , health equity , psychology , nursing , gerontology , environmental health , public health , population , political science , philosophy , epistemology , evolutionary biology , law , biology
In the United States, there are significant disparities in the oral health of children from families with high and low socioeconomic status and between majority and minority children. Extant research on these health differences has focused predominately on caregiver knowledge, beliefs, and practices as well as structural barriers such as Medicaid coverage, dentist availability, and transportation issues. Little attention has been paid to the quality of care families experience when taking their child to the dentist or the ways in which dental schools train their students to work with young children. This policy report describes some of the experiences of low‐income and ethnically diverse young children and their parents in dental clinics and highlights some of the weaknesses of dental training. We contend that increasing the standards for dental training and practice are necessary for improving young children's oral health and reducing these disparities.