494 - Georgia Dental Medicaid Provider Participation & Preventive Dental Care Utilization Rates

Title: Georgia Dental Medicaid Provider Participation & Pediatric Preventive Dental Care

Utilization Rates

Background: Significant oral health disparities exist among children in the U.S. based on several factors, including SES, resulting in higher rates of dental caries. Research shows a trend of increased dental visits among Medicaid children since 2009 of 40%. However, only 30% of dentist participate in Medicaid in Georgia. There are many barriers to access cited in the literature related to dentist density, reimbursement rates for services provided, and lack of Medicaid insurance acceptance at many dental practices.

Purpose: 1) To identify pediatric patients access to dental care services among individuals enrolled in Georgia Medicaid, 2) to identify dental Medicaid provider participation; and 3) to determine which preventative dental services are mainly utilized among Georgia Medicaid enrolled children.

Methods: Secondary claims data was reviewed by contacting the Georgia Medicaid office to obtain public deidentified claims data from 01/01/2018-06/01/2021. The dataset included GA Medicaid enrolled children from ages 0 months to 15 years old, who were enrolled for at least 12 continuous months. Data analysis included demographic information related to ethnicity, racial background, age, and Georgia county of residence during the time of enrollment. In addition, one assessed prevention utilization service rates by analyzing CDT codes: D0120, D0150, D1110, D1120, D1206, D1208, and D1351.  Georgia Medicaid Provider Participation was evaluated using the public National Provider Plan Enumeration System database (NPPES), given specific taxonomy identifiers.

Results: Results are currently pending for this project as data is currently being analyzed