December 9, 2015
An American Dental Association Health Policy Institute (HPI) report, “The Oral Health Care System: A State-by-State Analysis,” released Dec. 9, 2015, compiled data on the U.S. dental healthcare system in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the nation as a whole. Colorado statistics from the HPI report demonstrate the outreach and dedication by the CDA and its member dentists to improve access to dental care across the state have been working.
Highlights from the findings in Colorado include:
- The percentage of Medicaid enrolled children who visited a dentist within the past year increased from 38 percent in 2000 to 54 percent in 2013—a 16 point jump.
- Colorado is ahead of the nation in the percentage of dentists participating in Medicaid for children, with 53 percent in Colorado compared to 42 percent nationally.
- Given the recent addition of an adult Medicaid dental benefit and targeted provider recruitment efforts by the CDA and oral health partners, the percentage of dentists participating in the Colorado Medicaid program has continued to increase since fall 2014 when HPI data on provider participation was analyzed. Early statistics point to a 17 percent increase in dentists accepting Medicaid patients during the first year of this new benefit (July 2014 through June 2015).
- Colorado’s per capita supply of dentists increased from 64.3 dentists per 100,000 people in 2001 to 68.7 per 100,000 in 2013. Colorado is ahead of the national average by 8 points. HPI research suggests this increasing trend is likely to continue through 2033.
- 61 percent of high-income Coloradans and 47 percent of low-income Coloradans responded correctly to a set of general-knowledge questions about oral health, outpacing national averages.
The HPI report did not address dental visits by adults under Medicaid. However, in 2014, Colorado launched Medicaid dental coverage for adults, a program championed by the CDA at the state legislature. Programs like this and the CDA’s support of initiatives that better utilize the dental team are increasing access to and utilization of dental care in urban, suburban and rural communities.
HPI’s Colorado report also includes recent information on:
- Trends in reimbursement rates for dental care services in Medicaid and private dental benefit plans; and
- Percentage of the population with access to optimally fluoridated drinking water (among people on community water systems).
In addition, all state reports feature data from an innovative survey of nearly 15,000 U.S. adults, measuring their “dental IQ,” self-reported oral health status, and attitudes toward the importance and value of good oral health.
The report is available at www.ada.org/statefacts. The CDA press release is available here.