Imagine having to travel for hours for a routine dental cleaning or wait days to get treatment for a toothache. For nearly 1.7 million people in the U.S., this is a reality.
A new study published in JAMA Network Open takes a look at the issue of access to dental care, using a more nuanced approach to identify areas with limited dental services across the U.S.
Led by Hawazin Elani, assistant professor in oral health policy and epidemiology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, the study is one of the first to map spatial accessibility to dental clinics nationally at a granular level. By analyzing data at the block group level — the smallest geographical unit used by the U.S. Census Bureau defined by clusters of blocks — the researchers provide a more detailed picture of dental care access, revealing…