A sealant-to-restoration ratio (SRR) has been proposed as a claims-based dental sealant performance measure. A sealant utilization (SU) measure, such as the benchmark established by Healthy People 2000/2010 is often used, but has been criticized for concerns about sealant overuse and interpretation. This research compares information generated by SRR and SU in a population at high risk for dental caries. These population-based measures are defined as: 1) SRR - the number of sealants over the number of restorations; and 2) SU - the percentage of eligibles receiving at least one sealant. Using Medicaid dental claims data (July 1995-June 1996), limited to sealants and restorations on 1st-molar occlusal surfaces in children 5 to 8 years old, we calculated the two measures and their linear correlation for Louisiana’s 64 parishes (counties). We categorized parishes by quartiles of SRR and SU, performed a Fisher’s exact test of association, and identified parishes ranked in the highest and lowest categories by both measures. SU ranged from 0.9% to 21.5% with a mean of 9.6%. These values were well below the Healthy People 2000/2010 objective of 50%. SRR ranged from 0.257 to 13.43 with a mean of 3.695. The measures were correlated (R2=0.65; p<0.0001). The Fisher’s exact test for association between the categorized measures was significant (p<0.0001). Both measures ranked the parishes similarly, agreeing on 12 of the 16 lowest-scoring parishes and 10 of the 16 highest-scoring parishes. For this high-risk population, both measures may yield useful, and similar, information for targeting scarce public health resources.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to:
Keywords: Performance Measures, Oral Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.