The provision of dental care to emergency shelter users corresponds to lower shelter use over time among typical users

ABSTRACT

Using linked data from emergency shelters and a dental program in Canada, we sought to determine whether dental care is associated with fewer emergency shelter stays in this retrospective cohort study. We can observe when an individual accessed free dental care and how emergency shelter use changed over four years of follow-up, matching participants to comparable controls. We estimate difference-in-differences effects for each year since receipt of dental care. We estimate models for the typical user (M-estimation) and the average user (OLS regression). We found that in years 2, 3, and 4 after care, the typical user experienced a net result of fewer shelter stays than controls. The estimated average user stayed more nights in shelter than controls over the four years after dental care, likely driven by outliers that used substantially more shelter stays than the typical user. These results are consistent with the idea that participants benefit in the long-term from dental care received while at an emergency shelter after an initial stabilization period. That is likely due to both the permanent nature of the intervention and the lack of access to publicly-funded dental care in Canada.

KEYWORDS:

• Emergency shelters
• homeless persons
• dentistry
• dental care
• preventive health services

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ali Jadidzadeh

Ali Jadidzadeh is an assistant professor of Economics at the University of Tehran and a Research Fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.

Luke Duignan

Luke Duignan is currently a medical student at Dalhousie University after completing his MSc in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology.

Daniel J. Dutton

Daniel J. Dutton is an assistant professor of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. Jadidzadeh and Dutton have a shared interest in quantitative research benefitting individuals experiencing homelessness.