Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Dental Care Utilization Among U.S. Children Participating In Early Head Start Programs, Ahlam Ibraheem Joufi

Health Services Research Dissertations

Early childhood caries (ECC) remains one of the most common preventable diseases among children under the age of 6 years. Several national stakeholders recommend establishing a continuous collaboration of individuals involved with receiving oral health services (dental home) and routine dental care for the child by 12 months. Despite this recommendation, disparities exist among young, low-income children in preventive dental service utilization. The Early Head Start (EHS) program serves low-income children aged 0-3 years and their families and promotes oral health practices and service utilization within the program. This study aims to examine predictors of dental care utilization among children …

Predictors Of Dental Students’ Behavioral Intention Use Of Teledentistry: An Application Of The Unified Theory Of Acceptance And Use Of Technology (Utaut) Model, Jafar Hassan Alabdullah

Health Services Research Dissertations

Shortages of dental professionals and access barriers to dental care are challenges to improving oral health and decreasing the burden of dental diseases. There are more than 57 million individuals in the U.S. who live in dental health professional shortage areas (DHPSA). The U.S. DHPSA areas need 9,951 dental practitioners to overcome the obstacles to oral care access. Due to dental care needs for these populations, it is imperative to find a new method to reach these underserved populations. Teledentistry is an innovative technology that can be used to improve access to care and oral health outcomes. Unfortunately, there is …

Diabetes Status, Predisposing, Enabling, And Oral Health Illness Level Variables As Predictors Of Preventive And Emergency Dental Service Use, Sabha Alshatrat

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between diabetes and dental service use. This study addressed the question of whether individuals with diabetes are more or less likely to utilize dental services, measured in terms of preventive and emergency services during the past year. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the contributions of diabetes status to dental service use, relative to the contributions of Andersen and Newman Framework of Health Services Utilization dimensions (predisposing, enabling, and illness variables) in predicting dental service utilization during the past year using a nationally representative sample from a 2001-2002 National …

Using Modeling And Simulation To Improve Oral Health Services Delivery In Hampton Roads, Virginia, Mohammad J. Alzahrani

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the system performance in delivering oral health services in a public health district based on the Conceptual Framework to Measure Performance of the Public Health System (PHS). Using modeling and simulation, a predictive model based on the conceptual framework dimensions: mission, structural capacity, processes, and outcomes was developed to predict the performance of public health district in delivering oral health services.

This is a retrospective longitudinal study. The main objective of this study is to use a modeling and simulation approach to predict the performance of public health district dental clinic in …

Predictors Of Oral Health Behaviors: Examining The Effect Of Patient Perceived Humanistic Attitude In The Context Of The Health Belief Model, Linda Leigh Hawkins Carroll

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test the explanatory power of The Health Belief Model with the added environmental condition of perceived humanistic attitude of a dental hygienist in its ability to predict individual's performance of oral disease prevention behaviors. A cross section survey of an intact group of 1,943 full time employees of Old Dominion University was conducted. The response rate was 52% (n = 1001). An exclusionary rule eliminated respondents who did not have a dental hygienist provide preventive services during dental visits. Seven hundred and fifty four were included in the study analyses. The study participants …