title: Dental care coverage and retirement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the convergence of an aging population and a decreased availability of dental care coverage using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).
  
  
  METHODS
  We calculate national estimates of the number and characteristics of those persons age 51 years and above covered by dental insurance by labor force, retirement status, and source of coverage. We also estimate a multivariate model controlling for potentially confounding variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We show that being in the labor force is a strong predictor of having dental coverage. For older retired adults not in the labor force, the only source for dental coverage is either a postretirement health benefit or spousal coverage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental care, generally not covered in Medicare, is an important factor in the decision to seek dental care. It is important to understand the relationship between retirement and dental coverage in order to identify the best ways of improving oral health and access to care among older Americans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Policy, Division of Health Services Research, Dental School, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Manski
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schimmel
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: St Clair
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Magder
authors.forename: John V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Pepper
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007347:Insurance, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012179:Retirement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States
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