Spokane

In the second year of the program, 42.3% of ABCD clients were receiving dental care vs. 14.3% for non-ABCD children in the same age bracket. A child in the ABCD program is 7.2 times as likely to have at least one dental visit as a Medicaid-enrolled child not in the program. (This figure dramatically increases for children aged one and two.)

Estimated costs per ABCD child having at least one dental visit (in 1995 dollars) were $54.30 for the first year and $44.38 for the second year. Costs figured on the entire ABCD client population were $20.09 per enrolled child (first year) and $18.77 second year.

Front office personnel are influential in a practice's decision to see Medicaid clients, along with fee structure and paperwork concerns.

Stevens County

A randomized clinical trial conducted over eighteen months in 1997-1999 found that ABCD children had significantly fewer new decayed teeth than non-ABCD children. In addition, they found that there was a 43% utilization rate vs 25% non-ABCD, and expenditures for dental care were not significantly different. (See Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Vol. 62, No. 1, Winter 2002.)