Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Alabama at Birmingham received a $333,063 Project Grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), awarded July 14, 2026, with completion targeted for July 13, 2028. This research project investigates the impacts of expanded Medicaid dental benefits on the oral healthcare workforce and service delivery capacity at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The study employs a retrospective cohort design analyzing facility-level data from the Uniform Data System spanning 2011–2019 and uses an event-study difference-in-differences methodology to examine the effects of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid eligibility expansion paired with comprehensive adult dental benefits on three key dimensions: oral healthcare workforce composition at FQHCs, delivery of diverse dental services (diagnostic, preventive, restorative, and complex visits), and optimization of dental service capacity, particularly for specialized treatments.

This research addresses a critical knowledge gap regarding whether increased visit-driven dental revenue can help FQHCs enhance their dental service capacity and workforce capabilities. The project is designed to leverage the natural experiment created by state-level Medicaid expansion and dental benefit implementation to provide evidence on workforce dynamics and service delivery outcomes in community health settings that serve low-income populations. Findings are expected to inform policy and operational strategies for maximizing dental care access and workforce utilization in safety-net healthcare organizations that increasingly serve as primary sources of oral health services for uninsured and Medicaid-enrolled populations.