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Dental Health Care of Prison Populations

The purpose of this report was twofold: to examine the characteristics of dental care provided to state prisoners, and to determine if dental care in correctional settings was driven by traditional indicators such as state wealth, state social spending patterns, Department of Corrections (DOCs) annual medical expenditures, size of inmate populations, and the regional influence of surrounding state prison systems. Survey forms were sent to the DOCs of 50 states and the District of Columbia in 1996. Information was requested about the level of care, scope of care, clinician-to-inmate ratio, and administrative policies. Bivariate Pearsons correlations were performed using calculated inmate-to-dentist ratios and the traditional indicators previously mentioned. Mean inmate-to-dentist ratios were calculated by region, and an analysis of variance was performed to determine regional influences. DOCs were also grouped by size and by geographic location. Fisher Exact Tests were performed to determine whether DOC size and regional groupings were significant determinants influencing dental care. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia returned surveys (88%). Seventy-three percent of respondents had dental directors that coordinated dental care. Seventy-two percent described their DOCs as providing emergency care and some routine care. Fifty-two percent required inmates to make a co-payment for dental services. Twenty-six percent indicated that their states were providing dental care through managed care. There were no correlations between the level of care that inmates received and hypothesized indicators. There was substantial variation in the way dental care was provided to inmate populations by the states.