Table 1.

Summary of published studies from nationally representative survey including CSHCN with dental-related findings

STUDY AND YEAR	DATA AND YEAR COLLECTED	STUDY OBJECTIVE	DENTAL-RELATED FINDINGS
Newacheck et al, 20002	NHIS on Disability, 1995	To assess the role health insurance plays in influencing access to care and use of services by children with special health care needs.	The most prevalent unmet needs was for dental care (8.1% of CSHCN) vs. 3.2% unmet need for medical care. Among uninsured CSHCN 24% had unmet dental care needs compared to 6% of insured CSHCN.
Newacheck and Kim, 200515	MEPS, 2000	To provide the first nationally representative data on health care expenses including out-of-pocket health care expenses for CSHCN and to compare health care utilization and expenditures between children with and without SHCN.	CSHCN and children without SHCN had similar numbers of annual dental care visits (1.2-1.3 visits/year). Out-of-pocket expenditures as a percentage of total health care expenditures for CSHCN were highest for dental care (55% vs. 17% for physician and 2% for hospital inpatient services) and were significantly higher than for children without SHCN (55% vs. 40%).
Lewis et al, 20059	NS-CSHCN, 2001	To characterize CSHCN who needed dental care and from that group, those whose dental needs were not met.	78% of CSHCN were reported as needing dental care in the past 12 months, which was second only to prescription medications in the frequency of need. An estimated 755,581 or 10.4% of CSHCN who needed dental care did not receive all they needed. Relative to all other health care service categories, unmet dental care needs affected the most CSHCN.
Van Cleave and Davis, 200813	NSCH, 2003	To compare preventive dental care use and unmet need between children with and without SHCN.	CSHCN attend preventive dental visits at similar or higher rates than other children. CSHCN who had a preventive dental visit had substantially lower adjusted odds of reporting an unmet preventive dental need compared to CSHCN without a preventive dental visit. CSHCN were more likely to have dental insurance than children without SHCN (82% vs. 77%, p<0.001), however more CSHCN report an unmet preventive dental care need.
Kenney et al, 200814	NSCH, 2003	To compare parent-reported preventive dental care use and oral health status between children with and without SHCN.	Approximately 80% of CSHCN and 72% of children without SHCN received preventive dental care. More parents of CSHCN reported unmet preventive dental care needs compared to children without SHCN, despite greater odds of CSHCN having dental insurance and receiving preventive dental care. Fewer CSHCN parents described their children as having good/excellent dental health relative to parents of children without SHCN (67 vs. 73%, p<.001).
Lewis, 200916	NSCH, 2007	To determine the prevalence of toothache in US children and subgroups including CSHCN	15% of CSHCN had experienced a toothache in the last 6 months compared to 10% of children without SHCN (p<0.0001). Among more severely affected CSHCN, 19% were reported to have had a recent toothache.

NHIS: National Health Interview Survey

MEPS: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

NS-CSHCN: National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs

NSCH: National Survey of Children's Health