Dental expenditures and source of payment by race/ethnicity and other sociodemographic characteristics.
OBJECTIVE
This study presents race/ethnic-specific distributions of dental expenditures and their sources of payment by socioeconomic characteristics among US working-age adults.


METHODS
Data for persons aged 19-64 years from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) (n = 18,696) were used to calculate mean dental expenditures and their 95 percent confidence intervals.


RESULTS
Dental expenditures were reported by 44.5 percent of participants. Non-Hispanic whites and persons with higher income were more likely to report dental expenditures than their counterparts. Among persons reporting expenditures, those with lower income had lower expenditures than higher-income persons. No differences in the amount of expenditures by race/ethnicity, sex, or employment status were observed. In all race/ethnic groups almost half the expenditures were paid out-of-pocket and one-third by dental insurance.


CONCLUSIONS
While sociodemographic characteristics determined who had dental expenditures, they did not determine the amount or source of those expenditures.
Vargas
C M
CM
National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 730, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA. cav5@cdc.gov
Manski
R J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics*; D004651:Employment; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007347:Insurance, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data