Low-Income Children Not Receiving Dental Sealants, Though Procedure Covered by Medicaid, Study Finds

While many low-income children -- who are "known to be at higher risk" for dental problems -- are eligible for "anti-cavity" sealants through Medicaid, "few of their parents take advantage" of the benefit, a new study found, the New York Times reports. Researchers from the University of North Carolina over eight years reviewed dental records of more than 15,000 North Carolina children with Medicaid benefits and found children who received sealants had two-thirds as many "fillings and extractions" as children without sealants. But the researchers found that only 23% of the children studied received the sealants, which can be "put in place" at a single dental visit. Published in the current issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the study noted that apart from improving the dental health of low-income children, the sealants could also "save the government money." For children with two or more molar cavities, the cost of providing the sealants would be recovered in two years, according to the findings. Regardless of the potential cost savings, the researchers wrote that increasing the use of sealants offers the "potential value of gains in dental health for historically underserved segments of the population" (New York Times, 11/13). The study is available online.