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.
Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-0376.
R A
RA
Hayward
H K
HK
Meetz
M F
MF
Shapiro
H E
HE
Freeman
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