Utilization of dental services: 1986 patterns and trends.
Data from the 1986 Access to Health Care Survey of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nationwide telephone survey, were used to provide information on changes and trends in dental utilization in the United States. Sixty-three percent of the respondents five years or older (N = 9,352) had had a dental visit within the past year. Being elderly, having lower socioeconomic status, and being black were independent risk factors for having fewer dental visits. Persons who had dental check-ups during the past year also demonstrated higher rates of other preventive health procedures (i.e., Pap smears, mammograms, breast examinations, and routine medical examinations). Among those without a dental visit within the past year, a financial barrier to receiving such care was reported by 12 percent of those surveyed, compared to 37 percent in 1976. We concluded that during the past decade there has been a continued trend toward increased dental visits and decreased financial problems relating to receiving dental care; however, the poor, ethnic minorities, and those with less education continue to have much lower rates of dental care utilization compared to the general population.
Hayward
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RA
Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-0376.
Meetz
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HK
Shapiro
M F
MF
Freeman
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HE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D011336:Probability; D014481:United States