Oral cancer outcomes and Medicaid dental coverage
Official title: Oral Cancer Diagnosis and Outcomes: Role of Medicaid Dental Coverage and Dental Utilization
Funded at University of Florida · NIH-11373575 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether having Medicaid dental benefits and visiting the dentist regularly affect how early oral cancer is found and how long people live after diagnosis.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Florida NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Gainesville, United States) |
| Project start | July 2, 2025 |
| Project end | March 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $449,358 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DE035198-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11373575 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults enrolled in Medicaid with oropharyngeal cancer, particularly those in states with varying dental coverage policies.
✕Less likely to help
Uninsured individuals or Medicaid patients with cancers other than oropharyngeal cancer may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
The study will use linked cancer and Medicaid data to understand if Medicaid dental coverage influences early detection and survival for oropharyngeal cancer. It will compare groups by race, sex, and rural/urban residence, using the SEER-Medicaid dataset from 1999-2019. A quasi-experimental approach will examine states with and without dental benefits to see if coverage relates to better cancer outcomes. The research will also explore how patterns of dental visits relate to stage at diagnosis and five-year survival, based on clinic data from OneFlorida+.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could inform policies that improve early detection and survival for oral cancer patients who rely on Medicaid.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have shown disparities in cancer outcomes related to healthcare access; this study tests a policy change at the state level in a national dataset.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Florida
Gainesville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Singhal, Astha — University of Florida
- Study coordinator: Singhal, Astha
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.