Insurance status and untreated dental caries in Virginia schoolchildren.

Purpose: The purposes of this investigation were to: (1) provide a descriptive account of untreated dental caries for Virginia schoolchildren; and (2) examine the relationship between a child's insurance status and the presence of untreated dental caries.

Methods: In 1999, the Virginia Department of Health completed an Oral Health Assessment on first-, third-, and 10th-grade children. The oral assessment used a probability proportional to size sampling scheme to obtain a representative sample of public schoolchildren. Descriptive and multivariable regression analyses were completed to examine the relationship between insurance status and the presence of untreated dental caries.

Results: In the primary dentition, schoolchildren with no insurance had the highest prevalence of untreated dental caries (65%) compared to: (1) schoolchildren with medical insurance only (42%); and (2) those with both medical and dental insurance (25%). With the exception of children having only medical insurance, children enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program were more likely to have untreated dental caries.

Conclusions: In the primary dentition, children with no insurance were more likely to have untreated dental caries than those with both medical and dental insurance. Insurance status does not appear to be associated with untreated dental caries in the permanent dentition.