The Relationship Between Incarceration History and Dental Care and Oral Health in the United States: A Scoping Review

The Relationship Between Incarceration History and Dental Care and Oral Health in the United States: A Scoping Review | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review The Relationship Between Incarceration History and Dental Care and Oral Health in the United States: A Scoping Review Alexander Testa, Chelsea Carriker, Yojana Vadnerkar, Sandra Desjardins, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9042088/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objectives: To conduct a scoping review of observational quantitative studies examining the association between prior incarceration and (1) dental care use, (2) dental insurance coverage, and (3) oral health outcomes among US adults. Methods: A search strategy was implemented across 5 electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Embase). Additional manual searches of Google Scholar and reference lists were conducted. Screening and study selection followed PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included if they examined US community-dwelling adults (≥18 years), compared individuals with and without a history of incarceration, and reported dental care or oral health outcomes. Results: The search identified 2,006 articles; 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Eight studies examined dental care utilization, 2 examined dental insurance coverage, and 4 examined oral health outcomes. Across studies, prior incarceration was consistently associated with lower dental care use, higher unmet dental need, lower likelihood of dental insurance coverage, and poorer self-reported oral health. Several associations were attenuated after adjustment for socioeconomic status, health insurance, wealth, health behaviors, or chronic disease. Conclusions: The published evidence to date indicates that formerly incarcerated adults experience substantial disparities in dental care access and oral health. Future research should incorporate clinical oral health assessments, leverage administrative and electronic health records, and test policy and practice interventions to reduce oral health disparities among formerly incarcerated populations. Dentistry Incarceration Dental Care Oral Health Criminal Justice United States Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9042088","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":601355256,"identity":"b3b55b69-21df-4943-8f48-544652c84423","order_by":0,"name":"Alexander 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4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjectives:\u003c/strong\u003e To conduct a scoping review of observational quantitative studies examining the association between prior incarceration and (1) dental care use, (2) dental insurance coverage, and (3) oral health outcomes among US adults.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e A search strategy was implemented across 5 electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Embase). Additional manual searches of Google Scholar and reference lists were conducted. Screening and study selection followed PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included if they examined US community-dwelling adults (≥18 years), compared individuals with and without a history of incarceration, and reported dental care or oral health outcomes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e The search identified 2,006 articles; 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Eight studies examined dental care utilization, 2 examined dental insurance coverage, and 4 examined oral health outcomes. Across studies, prior incarceration was consistently associated with lower dental care use, higher unmet dental need, lower likelihood of dental insurance coverage, and poorer self-reported oral health. Several associations were attenuated after adjustment for socioeconomic status, health insurance, wealth, health behaviors, or chronic disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions:\u003c/strong\u003e The published evidence to date indicates that formerly incarcerated adults experience substantial disparities in dental care access and oral health. Future research should incorporate clinical oral health assessments, leverage administrative and electronic health records, and test policy and practice interventions to reduce oral health disparities among formerly incarcerated populations.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Relationship Between Incarceration History and Dental Care and Oral Health in the United States: A Scoping Review","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-06 08:36:20","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9042088/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d8a8f365-e9fd-41b9-93db-22090d2316f7","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 6th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":63998966,"name":"Dentistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-06T08:36:20+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-06 08:36:20","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9042088","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9042088","identity":"rs-9042088","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}