Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
8-1984
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major Professor
Bill C. Wallace
Committee Members
Robert H. Kirk, Robert J. Pursley, Dean J. Champion
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to estimate the dental needs and costs of services if added to Medicaid in the state of Tennessee. The research objectives encompassed socioeconomic characteristics of the elderly; the kinds of dental services required by those persons selected for inclusion in the subsequent sample examined and what costs would accrue to the state for adding these dental services to the existing Medicaid program.
The data were collected using both an interview schedule and an oral inspection form. Both of these forms were devised by the researcher for information covering: 1) dental behavior of the elderly in the sample; 2) dental utilization of the elderly; 3) perceived dental care; and 4) actual condition of the oral cavity.
The population consisted of 313 elderly persons who attended three senior citizen's centers in Memphis, Nashville, and Greeneville. There were 119 males and 194 females. Of the 313 persons, 248 were white and 65 were black. Results of this study were presented by descriptive research methods and the use of chi square analysis, the t test, the analysis of variance F test, and the Scheffe procedure for determining significant differences between pairs of ordered means.
The results of the study showed no differences in the quality of oral health of the sample between the three centers tested. The findings indicated that more education and higher incomes were associated with better dental health and the majority of the persons covered by Medicaid were black and from among the lower socioeconomic occupational categories, having yearly incomes of less than $10,000. Only 16 percent of the respondents indicated a need for dental services that they could not obtain. This fact and the fact that most of the 313 respondents indicated a willingness to pay some of the dental costs would, in addition reduce the total expenditure to the state of Tennessee.
It was concluded that most of the respondents had fairly good dental health and that the dental problems of the elderly are much the same throughout the state. The primary problem confronting relatively few of the participants was their inability to afford needed dental services.
Recommended Citation
Strickland, Bonnie P., "A study to estimate the dental needs and costs of adding dental care service for the ambulatory elderly to Medicaid in the state of Tennessee. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1984.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/12968