KIDS COUNT Dental Indicator
Tue, 05/17/2022 - 12:00am — TeethFirst
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT released its twenty-eighth annual report on the well-being of Rhode Island’s children and families on Monday, May 16, 2022. The
2022 Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook charts improvements and declines in the well-being of Rhode Island’s 209,785 children. Data are presented for the state and for each of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns. The
Factbook indicators are grouped into five interrelated categories: family and community, economic well-being, health, safety, and education. There are a total of 70 indicators of child well-being in the 2022
Factbook -- and one of thos is
Access to Dental Care!
Access to dental care is the percentage of children and youth under age 21 who were enrolled in RIte Smiles on June 30, 2021 and who had received dental services at any point during the previous State Fiscal Year. Below, please see some highights from the indicator:
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Forty-nine percent (62,540) of the children who were enrolled in RIte Care, RIte Share, or Medicaid fee-for-service on June 30, 2021 received a dental service during State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2021, the same rate as last year.
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In Rhode Island, 52% of children with Medicaid in Rhode Island received a preventive dental visit in FFY 2019.
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RIte Smiles, Rhode Island’s managed care oral health program for children has been credited with improving access to dental care for children. RIte Smiles is for low-income children born on or after May 1, 2000, and the cohort expands through an eligibility age-in process. The program began in 2006. As of December 31, 2021, there were
123,268 children enrolled in RIte Smiles.
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In 2019, 41% of Rhode Island children under age five with Medicaid coverage received any dental service. Among those who received any dental services, 95% received a preventative dental visit.
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