title: Hospital based emergency department visits attributed to dental caries in the United States in 2006.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is a paucity of published studies presenting nationally representative estimates on hospital-based emergency department visits primarily attributed to dental caries. The objective of this study is to provide estimates of hospital-based emergency department visits attributed to dental caries in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a component of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, was used for this study. All emergency department visits attributable to dental caries were identified using ICD-9-CM diagnoses codes and selected for analysis. Outcomes including hospital charges and length of stay in hospital were examined. Simple descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study found that in 2006, a total of 330,757 visits to hospital-based emergency departments occurred in the United States. The total charges were $110 million. Approximately 45% of all visits by adults occurred among the uninsured. Medicaid was the most common payer for all visits by children, accounting for nearly 53% of all visits. About 38% of visits occurred among those residing in low-income areas. Hospitalization was required for 158 visits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides nationwide estimates of hospital-based emergency department visits attributed to dental caries in the United States. The uninsured constituted the greatest proportion of emergency department visits among adults, whereas Medicaid was the major payer for children visiting the emergency departments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials Sciences, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Romesh P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Nalliah
authors.forename: Veeratrishul
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Allareddy
authors.forename: Satheesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elangovan
authors.forename: Nadeem
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karimbux
authors.forename: Veerasathpurush
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Allareddy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology