Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Impact Of Wisconsin Medicaid Policy Change On Dental Sealant Utilization, Christopher Okunseri, Elaye Okunseri, Raul I. Garcia, Cesar Gonzales, Alexis Vistocky, Aniko Szabo

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Background

In September 2006, Wisconsin Medicaid changed its policy to allow nondentists to become certified Medicaid providers and to bill for sealants in public health settings.

Objective

This study examined changes in patterns of dental sealant utilization in first molars of Wisconsin Medicaid enrollees associated with a policy change.

Data Source

The Electronic Data Systems of Medicaid Evaluation and Decision Support for Wisconsin from 2001 to 2009.

Study Design

Retrospective claims data analysis of Wisconsin Dental Medicaid for children aged 6-16 years.

Principal Findings

A total of 479,847 children followed up for 1,441,300 person-years with 64,546 visits were analyzed. The …

Differences In Utilization Of Dental Procedures By Children Enrolled In Wisconsin Medicaid And Delta Dental Insurance Plans, Pradeep Bhagavatula, Qun Xiang, Aniko Szabo, Fredrick Eichmiller, Christopher Okunseri

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Few studies have directly compared dental procedures provided in public and private insurance plans for enrollees living in dental health professional shortage areas (DHPSAs). We examined the rates for the different types of dental procedures received by 0–18-year-old children living in DHPSAs and non-DHPSAs who were enrolled in Medicaid and those enrolled under Delta Dental of Wisconsin (DDW) for years 2002 to 2008.

Methods

Medicaid and DDW dental claims data for 2002 to 2008 was analyzed. Enrollees were divided into DDW-DHPSA and non-DHPSA and Medicaid-DHPSA and non-DHPSA groups. Descriptive and multivariable analyses using over-dispersed Poisson regression were performed to …

Travel Distances By Wisconsin Medicaid Enrollees Who Visit Emergency Departments For Dental Care, Christopher Okunseri, Rabeea Vanevenhoven, Thomas Chelius, Kirsten M.M. Beyer, Elaye Okunseri, William K. Lobb, Aniko Szabo

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Objectives: Prior studies document increased numbers of nontraumatic dental condition (NTDC) visits to U.S. emergency departments (EDs). However, the influence of travel distance on ED use for NTDCs, particularly for Medicaid enrollees has hitherto received little attention. The authors examined the effect of travel distance on Wisconsin Medicaid enrollees’ NTDC visits to EDs after adjustment for covariates.

Methods: NTDC-related visits claims data for Wisconsin Medicaid (2001-2009) was analyzed. For each enrollee, travel distance to the nearest of 130 EDs in Wisconsin was determined. The number of NTDC visits per person-year was aggregated by ZIP+4 of residence. Negative binomial regression adjusting …

Access To Dental Care In Two Long-Term Refugee Camps In Western Tanzania; Programme Development And Assessment, Toni M. Roucka

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Objective:  To analyse the demographics surrounding and the sustainability of a course in Emergency Dental Care and Health Promotion developed and taught by a team of dentists from the United States to refugee camp health-care workers in two long-term refugee camps in Western Tanzania.

Methods:  Refugee camp dental patient log books from Mtabila and Nyarugusu camps Kigoma, Tanzania were analysed and demographic data collected on each patient visit from the programme inception in November 2007 until August 2009. Data collection included information relevant to 1961 patient visits. Data were entered into SPSS Statistics 17.0 using the Freq application.

Outcomes:  Patient …