Racial/Ethnic Disparity in Utilization of General Dental Care Services Among US Adults: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 2012.
The objective of this study was to examine racial/ethnic disparity and associated factors in general dental care utilization among US adults.



Data were adults 18-85 years old (N = 27,394) from the 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The outcome was the receipt of general dental care, measured by (1) whether the individual has ever had a general dental visit and (2) the number of general dental visits the individual has had during the past year. Race/ethnicity was the primary interest. Logistic regressions and negative binomial regressions were conducted using STATA version 12 to assess the effect of race/ethnicity on the receipt of general dental care both independently and adjusted for other demographic and socioeconomic factors.



Non-Hispanic blacks (odds ratio (OR) 0.39, 95 % confidence intervals (CI) 0.37-0.43), Hispanics (0.34, 0.43-0.37), and other minorities (0.61, 0.56-0.68) were less likely to report general dental visits both independently and adjusted for other demographic and socioeconomic factors, compared with non-Hispanic whites. General dental visits were more likely to be observed among individuals who were female, married, native speakers, living in a metropolitan statistical area, and with dental insurance, and the number of visits was increasing with age, educational level, and family income.



The race/ethnicity disparity in the utilization of general dental care still existed. Policy makers and dental care providers should promote dental insurance coverage and language support programs, and increase the diversity of dental professionals among minorities to encourage their visits to dentists.
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. yefei.zhang@uth.tmc.edu.
Yefei
Y
Zhang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003729:Dental Care; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D044465:White People
Disparity; General dental care; Racial/ethnic