Oral Health, U.S. 2002 Annual Report
Section 7: DELIVERY OF DENTAL SERVICES
Regular dental visits allow for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of oral diseases, as well as assessment of self-care practices. People who do not receive regular professional dental care are at greater risk for oral diseases and for dental problems requiring complex and more costly restorative treatment (US DHHS, 2000).
Use of dental services is typically defined as having at least one dental visit during the past year. Children under age 18 are more likely to have had a dental visit during the past year than any other age group (Krauss et al., 1999; Woolfolk et al., 1999).
As people grow older they are at increased risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer (US DHHS, 2000). People who have lost all their natural teeth are less likely to seek periodic dental care than those with teeth, which decreases their chances for early detection of oral cancer (NCHS, NHANES III, unpublished data).
The use of dental services in the United States is consistently associated with higher educational levels, higher income, nonminority status, and dental insurance coverage. Even when controlling for poverty status and dental insurance coverage, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics are significantly less likely than non-Hispanic whites to visit a dentist (Manski & Magder, 1998).
Access to basic dental services continues to be a problem, particularly among those who are economically disadvantaged. School- and community-based health centers are seen as a potentially effective means to improve access to dental services for vulnerable populations (US DHHS, 2000).
This section examines the following: use of the oral health care system in general; use of the oral health care system among residents of long-term care facilities; dental services among low-income children; school-based and community-based health centers with an oral health component; state dental programs with full-time dental directors; usual source of dental care; annual use of preventive, orthodontic, periodontic, and endodontic services; and unmet dental needs.
REFERENCES
Krauss NA, Machlin S, Kass BL. Use of health care services, 1996. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 1999. MEPS Research Findings No. 7.
AHCPR Pub. No. 99–0018.
Manski RJ, Magder LS. Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of dental care utilization.
J Am Dent Assoc 1998;129:195–200.
National Center for Health Statistics. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988–1994. Hyattsville, MD: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unpublished data.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. Conference ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000.
Woolfolk MW, Lang WP, Borgnakke WS, et al. Determining dental check-up frequency.
J Am Dent Assoc 1999;130(5):715–723.
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