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NewsBooking a dental appointment on the spot during prenatal screenings dramatically increased the odds of pregnant patients actually following through with dental care. A NYC-based program found that immediate scheduling was nearly five times more effective than using a bilingual patient navigator — and far cheaper. Sometimes the simplest fix is the best one.
Getting pregnant patients to the dentist is notoriously difficult, but a New York City program may have cracked the code with a surprisingly low-tech solution: just book the appointment right then and there. A program evaluation of the NYU/Bellevue Prenatal Oral Health Program found that scheduling a dental appointment at the time of oral health screening was associated with nearly five times higher odds of patients actually attending a dental visit during pregnancy.
The program screened and referred 420 pregnant patients — more than 63% of whom were Hispanic, low-income, and Medicaid-insured — between July 2018 and March 2020. Two interventions were tested: immediate appointment scheduling and a bilingual patient navigator. The navigator, while helpful, didn't move the needle nearly as much.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Oral health during pregnancy is linked to serious outcomes, including preterm birth and low birth weight. This study shows that a simple, low-cost scheduling intervention can meaningfully close the gap in dental care access for underserved pregnant populations.
