Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

4-1-2026

Journal

Family & Community Health

DOI

10.1097/FCH.0000000000000451

PMID

41622520

PMCID

PMC12931953

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

2-25-2026

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Formerly incarcerated individuals have poorer oral health and less frequent dental care utilization than the general population. However, prior work has overlooked the relationship between prior incarceration and disparities in dental insurance coverage. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 11,638), findings from multiple logistic regression analyses demonstrate that formerly incarcerated older adults are significantly less likely to have dental insurance coverage (odds ratio [OR] = 0.745, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.608, 0.912). After accounting for the income-to-poverty ratio, this association was no longer statistically significant. Analyses using the Karlson-Holm-Breen method demonstrated that approximately 45% of the association between prior incarceration and dental insurance is explained by the income-to-poverty ratio. These findings suggest the need for policies to expand affordable dental coverage for formerly incarcerated older adults.

Keywords

Humans, Insurance, Dental, Prisoners, Aged, Male, Female, Insurance Coverage, Middle Aged, United States

Published Open-Access

yes

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