108 - Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Care for Pediatric Patients

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on private dental insurance claims for pediatric dental care.

Methods: Commercial dental insurance claims for patients in the United States under age 18 were obtained and analyzed. The claims dates ranged from January 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. Total claims paid, average paid amount per visit, and number of visits were compared between provider specialties and patient age groups from 2020 to 2019.

Results: Total paid claims and total number of visits per week were significantly lower in 2020 compared to 2019 from mid-March to mid-May (P < .001), with the exception of orthodontists who did not have a significant change in the number of visits per week (P=.728). There generally were no differences between 2019 and 2020 from mid-May through August (P>.15), with the exception of significantly lower total paid claims and total number of visits per week for specialties other than general dentists, pediatric dentists, or orthodontists in 2020 compared to 2019 (P < .005). Average paid amount per visit was significantly higher during the COVID shutdown period for 0-5 year-olds (P < .001), but significantly lower for all other ages when compared to 2019.

Conclusion: Dental care was greatly reduced during the COVID shutdown period and was slower to recover for ‘other’ specialties. Younger patients ages 0-5 had more expensive dental visits during the shutdown period, which may indicate more emergent treatment needs as a result of barriers to routine care.