ArticleResearch square2025
The Role of Medicaid Dental Benefits in Access to Preventive Dental Care and Unmet Dental Needs During Pregnancy.
Article in Research square, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Updated by
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Maintaining oral health during pregnancy is important for maternal and child health, yet many lowincome individuals face barriers to dental care. Medicaid dental benefits vary by state and may influence access to preventive services and unmet dental needs during pregnancy. This study examined whether state Medicaid dental benefits for pregnant women were associated with preventive dental care use and unmet dental needs, overall and by race and ethnicity. Methods: We analyzed data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System for 45 states from 2012 to 2021 using a pooled cross-sectional design. The sample included Medicaid-enrolled pregnant women. Outcomes were receipt of a dental cleaning and reporting unmet dental needs during pregnancy. State Medicaid dental benefit status was the primary exposure. Descriptive and bivariate analyses summarized sample characteristics and outcome prevalence. Multivariable regression models estimated adjusted differences in outcomes by benefit status. Subgroup analyses were conducted for Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic Other groups. Results: Among Medicaid-enrolled pregnant women, 34.1% reported a dental cleaning and 10.8% reported unmet dental needs. Living in a state with Medicaid dental benefits was associated with a 6.7 percentage point higher likelihood of receiving a dental cleaning (95% CI: 4.0, 9.5) and a 4.0 percentage point lower likelihood of reporting unmet dental needs (95% CI: -6.4, - 1.7). The association with dental cleaning was strongest among non-Hispanic Black women (9.1 percentage points; 95% CI: 2.6, 15.6), followed by Hispanic women (8.3; 95% CI: 1.6, 15.1) and non-Hispanic White women (5.7; 95% CI: 2.0, 9.4). A significant association with reduced unmet needs was observed only among non-Hispanic White women. Conclusions: State Medicaid dental benefits were associated with greater use of preventive dental care and fewer unmet dental needs during pregnancy. Expanding dental coverage for pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries may improve access to oral health care and help reduce disparities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.