The estimated cost of treating unmet dental restorative needs of Mexican-American children from Southwestern US HHANES, 1982-83.
The dental restorative treatment needs of Mexican-American children, aged 1-17 years, were assessed from the 1982-83 Southwestern US Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES). This report analyzed those needs and applied a dollar cost to them, using 1982 median fees of US general practitioners. The total estimated cost required to meet those needs for the population estimate of 3,396,770 children was $236,856,772 (95% CI: $198,575,174 to $275,138,370). The mean cost per child was $69.73 (SE: 5.75). Although a majority of the children had no unmet need, 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds had extensive needs for crowns, endodontics, and prosthetic replacement of teeth, with accompanying high costs: mean total cost per examinee was $177 (SE: 28.97), $161 (SE: 32.20), and $237 (SE: 33.26), respectively. The treatment needs were compared with the previously published regional data from the 1979-80 NIDR survey, which used the same dental restorative treatment needs (DRTN) index. The findings indicated a great need for dental treatment among Mexican-American children that appeared to exceed that of the general school-aged population. Our analysis, in providing estimates of the cost of needed treatment, might be useful in planning dental treatment programs and in comparing surveys.
Pollick
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Department of Dental Public Health and Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0754.
Pawson
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IG
Martorell
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R
Mendoza
F S
FS
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D009909:Oral Health; D015206:Southwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014070:Tooth; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous