Determining Dental Deserts Throughout West Virginia

Brittany Gray* and Fotinos Panagakos

School of Dentistry, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation Category: Biological & Biochemical Sciences (Poster Presentation #106)

Student’s Major: Biology

Dental deserts are areas that are experiencing a shortage of dentists and oral healthcare. Many areas throughout the country are considered dental deserts and these areas are especially prevalent in West Virginia. Typically, the shortages are in rural areas which can be widely found throughout West Virginia. It is important to determine if future dentists are planning to practice in these shortage areas in order to address the current oral healthcare issues. When determining these dental deserts, the ratio of population to current practicing dentists in that area must be calculated. This is done by researching the population size of different counties in West Virginia and determining the current practicing dentists in that area by examining the dental statistics for West Virginia. For this study, in order to determine if future dentists and dental hygienists are planning on practicing in a rural area, a survey was sent out to the current dental and dental hygiene students at West Virginia University School of Dentistry asking about their post-graduation plans. The results of the survey will be analyzed and reported. In order to determine the location of dental deserts within West Virginia, state dental practitioner data will also be reviewed. This research is important because it allows people to become more aware of the oral health shortage throughout both the state of West Virginia and the country, and it can hopefully help to lessen the number of dental deserts.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course