Women’s Health
Differences in Dental Cleaning Rates During Pregnancy in 26 States: An Analysis of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 2022 Adit Doza* Adit Doza Lijing Ouyang Donatus U. Ekwueme Ada Dieke Shanna Cox
Background: This study explores the differences in dental cleaning rates during pregnancy across jurisdictions, examining its association with health insurance, dental insurance, race/ethnicity, income, education, and rural/urban status.
Methods: We analyzed data from the 2022 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) among women with a recent live birth. We modeled dental cleaning during pregnancy using a multivariate logistic regression as a function of race/ethnicity, age, education, insurance, income, rural/urban status, and state fixed effects among 26 states. In an additional analysis, we adjusted for dental insurance among jurisdictions containing dental insurance information for 19 states. All presented results are statistically significant at p <0.05.
Results: Dental cleaning rates during pregnancy varied across jurisdictions, ranging from 35.75% in Kentucky to 57.81% in Rhode Island .The main regression model showed that dental cleaning during pregnancy varied by race/ethnicity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Asians were 0.822 and 0.648 vs. non-Hispanic Whites); age (20-24 years vs. <20 years [aOR=0.685]); health insurance (public vs. private insurance [aOR=0.683], no insurance vs. private insurance [aOR=0.548]); education (≥12 years vs. <12 years [aOR=1.407]); income (high-income vs. low-income [aOR=2.46]); and geographical area (rural vs. urban [aOR=0.783]). In additional analysis, women with dental insurance were more likely to have dental cleanings during pregnancy compared to those without dental insurance [aOR=3.272].
Conclusion: There is variation between states in the dental cleaning during pregnancy. Dental cleaning during pregnancy also varied by race/ethnicity, health insurance, dental insurance, education, income, and rurality. These data may inform the identification of structural barriers and evaluation of strategies to improve access and utilization of oral health care during pregnancy.