missed appointments C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 5 0 , Nº 8
Missed Dental Care Appointments in an Urban Safety Net Hospital Katheryn Goldman, DMD, MPH, ABD; Muath A. Aldosari, BDS, MPH, DMSc; and Keri Discepolo DDS, MPH
abstract Background: A paucity of literature has focused specifically on the sociodemographic and concrete resources available to patients who have missed pediatric dental care appointments in the United States. This pilot study aims to assess the factors associated with missing dental care appointments among pediatric patients visiting a hospital-based dental clinic. Specifically evaluated is the association between both the guardian’s adverse childhood experience (ACE) and access to concrete supports to determine how they relate to missed dental appointments. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of 150 randomly sampled pediatric patients who visited the dental clinic at a large urban children’s hospital in July 2019. Of those identified, 30 random guardians were interviewed via simple random sampling using the modified ACE questionnaire and surveyed for access to concrete supports. Results: The average number of missed dental care appointments was 10.6%. The majority of children who missed >10% of dental care appointments were Hispanic (54.6%), non-Hispanic Black (44.4%) utilizing public insurance (41.6%) and living in low-income neighborhoods (46.8%) and within 10 miles from the hospital (43.8%). Of those interviewed, 20% of families were found to have high-risk ACE scores. Conclusions: This study illustrates a targeted demographic and identifies adverse experiences and access to concrete supports. Practical implications: The research reinforces the value of identifying vulnerable populations through trends in care utilization and also is suggestive of the benefit of social resource involvement in the dental setting. Keywords: Health care disparities, oral health, child health services, behavioral risk factor, surveillance system, health knowledge, attitudes, practice, vulnerable populations
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