ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 20 (UPI) -- U.S. minority children with private dental insurance are five times more likely to have visited a dentist than those with no dental insurance, a study found.
University of Michigan researchers in Ann Arbor also found minority children receiving Medicaid are two times more likely to have visited a dentist than those with no dental insurance, according to the study in the Journal of the American Dental Association.
In addition, the researchers found caregivers who had had preventive dental visits were five times more likely to have taken their children to a dentist than caregivers who sought dental care only for treatment or who did not get dental care at all.
"This underscores the importance of promoting caregivers' preventive behaviors ... and increasing access to dental care and removing barriers to dental care," according to the authors.
