title: Hospital-based emergency department visits with dental conditions among children in the United States: nationwide epidemiological data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide nationally representative estimates of hospital-based emergency department visits (ED) for dental caries, pulp and periapical lesions, gingival/periodontal lesions, and mouth cellulitis occurring among patients who were 21 years old and younger.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) for the year 2008 was used. All ED visits with dental conditions were included. Discharge patterns, demographics, disposition following ED visit, and hospital charges, were examined. NEDS is a uniform, stratified dataset, and can be projected to the national level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 215,073 ED visits with dental conditions occurred among children. These visits included diagnosis of dental caries (50 percent of visits), pulpal and periapical conditions (41 percent), gingival (15 percent) and periodontal diseases (five percent), and mouth abscess/cellulitis (three percent). Forty-two percent were covered by Medicaid, and 32 percent were uninsured. Mean charge per visit was $564, and total ED charge across the United States (US) was $104.2 million. Among those hospitalized following ED visits, total hospitalization charge across US was $162 million.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial amount of hospital resources are spent treating dental conditions in the ED. A total of 43 percent of ED visits were covered by Medicaid, and 32 percent were uninsured.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Veerasathpurush
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Allareddy
authors.affiliation: Castle Society, Office of Dental Education, at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, USA. romesh_nalliah@hsdm.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Romesh P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Nalliah
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: Mehedia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haque
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: Hope
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Sankeerth B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Rampa
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology, at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: Min Kyeong
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology; D000293:Adolescent; D002481:Cellulitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003788:Dental Pulp Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010483:Periapical Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult