Extended Dental Clinic Hours Improve Access to Care for Older Teens

Published July 2018 | Pediatric Dentistry

Evening dental clinic hours help teens miss less school, their parents miss less work and represent a concept that should be extended to teens’ siblings and younger patients, according to a questionnaire-based study by the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics.

Responses from 50 parents/guardians and 55 teen patients ages 14 and older who visited the adolescent evening clinic (AEC)—5:30-9 p.m. on a weekday and 2:30-6 p.m. on Friday—said that not missing school was the primary reason for their visits. All of the adults (100%) and 92.7% of the pediatric patients agreed they would choose evening hours for their next appointment.

Extended hours at the Cincinnati Children’s dental clinic are now permanent, with second-year dental students providing care and a transition dentist soon to begin caring for older teens, said Jennifer Cully, DMD, the study’s lead author.

“We recognized that there’s a need for these older children to find dental providers and receive care, and we think the AEC has made a great impact on this community,” Cully says. “We also know that teens across the country miss school because of dental infections, and we’re looking to remove other barriers to care.”

Parent/guardian suggestions for improving the AEC concept included adding additional days and hours to the schedule, and allowing siblings and children under age 14 to visit.

Follow-up studies, Cully said, will explore the impact of dental fear, reduced health literacy, difficulty taking time off work or school, and lack of insurance or transportation on teens’ access to dental care.