The following is a summary of “Emergency Department and Dental Clinic Perceptions of Appropriate, and Preventable, Use of the ED for Non-Traumatic Dental Conditions in Hot-Spot Counties,” published in the January 2024 issue of Primary Care by Schroeder et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to comprehensively understand hot-spot county nontraumatic dental conditions (NTDC) Emergency Department (ED) use through mixed methods, investigating administrative data and stakeholder perceptions of preventability and appropriateness.
They extracted tooth pain data from ((2015-2021)) State Medicaid and the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE). NTDC data were assembled utilizing the International Classification of Diseases, 9th &10th Revisions. Through extreme case sampling, interviews were conducted with healthcare providers in counties exhibiting the highest per-capita NTDC-related emergency department utilization.
The result showed that North Dakota saw a drop in NTDC ED visits from 2017 to 2020, but the rate is rising again. Most NTDC ED visits occurred in individuals aged 20 to 34 and 35 to 44. ED and dental staff hold misconceptions about reducing NTDC ED visits but unanimously advocate for community-level prevention.
They concluded that ED for dental pain was deemed acceptable, but better access to affordable prevention is seen as key to reducing use and health disparities.
Source: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21501319231222396
