Mission of Mercy patient characteristics and dental-related emergency department use.

Background: Although dental Mission of Mercy (MOM) events have existed for more than 2 decades and are held in more than 30 states, systematic data collection and reporting on patient characteristics, oral health care use patterns, and oral health care needs are lacking.

Methods: The authors surveyed patients attending the 2016 Florida MOM, asking about their reasons for seeking oral health care, oral health care use, and dental-related emergency department (ED) use. The authors conducted descriptive and multivariable analyses of survey and patient registration data to describe patient characteristics and examine associations between patient characteristics, time to last dental visit, and ED use.