Behavioral community psychology: encouraging low-income parents to seek dental care for their children.

Researchers mailed three kinds of reminders to low-income parents whose kids needed urgent dental care.

One group got a single note plus a five-dollar bill. A second group got three letters that grew stronger in tone. A third group got only the note, no cash.

The team then counted how many parents booked and showed up for both the first and the follow-up visit.

The five-dollar bill beat everything. More parents in that group took their kids to the first visit and came back for the second.

It also cost the clinic the least per child treated, so the program paid for itself.

Berkovits et al. (2019) later showed the same idea works with teen workers. A small attendance bonus cut missed shifts by 60 percent, proving pocket-size incentives travel across ages and jobs.

Kancherla et al. (2013) seems to disagree: young adults with intellectual disability still visit the dentist less often even when money is not the issue. The gap is not the incentive size—it is that no prompt or reward was offered in that survey, so the studies do not really clash.

Mammarella et al. (2022) took the next step. Instead of paying, they taught adults with IDD practice steps in a fake clinic. Almost half then sat through a real exam without sedation, showing money is one tool, skills training is another.

If you want families, staff, or clients to show up, pair one clear prompt with a tiny but immediate reward. Five dollars, a raffle ticket, or an extra break day can do the job. Start small, track the data, and watch the cost drop as attendance rises.