Dental Care Needs of Male versus Female Children Visiting a School-based Mobile Dental Facility in West Virginia

Abstract

Purpose: Many school-aged children have not received dental care in West Virginia, despite mandated statewide requirements of a dental evaluation and dental treatment before entering school, and the provision of Medicaid/CHIP insurance coverage for children from families below the federal poverty level. An innovative mobile oral health program to educate children, provide preventive care, and bring technology to public schools was developed for West Virginia children in a need shortage area. It was unknown if the unmet dental needs challenge was greater for male or female children residing in that area. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a difference by sex in the number of attendees and the incidence of dental caries for children who visited a school-based mobile dental facility.Methods: School-aged children who had not had a dental examination within the previous year were offered school-based examinations/assessments, preventive care, and oral health education via a mobile oral health program following parental/guardian consent. Data were collected concerning the number of current carious teeth in need of restoration. Descriptive statistics and chi square analyses were conducted to analyze the data.Results: There were 429 students evaluated at the school-based mobile dental facility. Half (50.3%) were male. Referrals for additional necessary oral/medical care were made for 214 (50.1%) children; 45.9% of males and 53.3% of females (p= 0.287) had dental caries.Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that sex was not a statistically significant factor in school-based mobile dental facility attendance nor in current dental caries incidence among school-aged children in an underserved area of West Virginia.

Keywords: West Virginia; community interventions; dental care; dental caries; dental public health; mobile dentistry; oral health disparities.