Demographic factors associated with dental utilization among community dwelling elderly in the United States, 1997.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to characterize dental service utilization in 1997 by community dwelling Medicare beneficiaries.


METHODS
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, or MCBS, is a continuous annual series of nationally representative surveys of Medicare beneficiaries. Univariate comparisons were made between dependent variables (dental utilization and types of dental services) by each of the independent variables (age group, gender, race, income, education, population density, marital status and U.S. Census Bureau regions using weighted proportions to test for independence between dependent and independent variables.


RESULTS
Overall, an estimated 41% of the population had a dental visit. Although utilization declined with aging, 24% of those 85 and older visited a dentist.


CONCLUSIONS
This descriptive study provides important information about dental utilization and services in the American elderly population. Younger, high income, white or educated elderly Americans had higher dental utilization.
Department of Primary Dental Care, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, 515 Delaware Street SE, 9-436, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Daniel D
DD
Skaar
Nancy A
NA
Hardie
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003729:Dental Care / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003814:Dentistry, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D006278:Medicare; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American