Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The Michigan Initiative for Maternal and Infant Oral Health (MIMIOH) program provided funding to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to hire and embed a dental hygienist in the obstetrics clinic, with the goal of increasing the provision of dental care during pregnancy. Ten sites participated in two cohorts. Our objective was to assess the impact of the MIMIOH program on receipt of dental visits during pregnancy. METHODS: Using Medicaid paid claims, we documented quarterly trends in dental visits during pregnancy, describing trends for each MIMIOH sites and comparing aggregate results for MIMIOH Cohorts 1 and 2 vs. FQHCs that did not participate in MIMIOH. RESULTS: The proportion of women with a dental visit during pregnancy varied across MIMIOH sites, and was higher during periods of active participation. For both MIMIOH Cohorts 1 and 2, the aggregate proportions of dental visits during periods of active participation was higher than that for non-MIMIOH FQHCs. In contrast, dental visits were lower for Cohort 1 after MIMIOH participation ended, and for Cohort 2 before MIMIOH began. CONCLUSIONS: The MIMIOH program was successful at increasing dental visits among pregnant women during periods of active participation.