Increased Dental Use May Affect Changes in Treated and Untreated Dental Caries in Young Children

From 1999-2004 to 2011-2014, untreated dental caries prevalence decreased among US children aged 2 to 5 y, regardless of family income. Policies were concurrently initiated for children to increase access to preventive dental services in dental, primary, and community settings and to restorative care in dental settings.

We aimed to examine 1) whether changes in prevalence and severity of untreated and treated caries between the periods varied by family income and 2) to what degree increased past-year dental visit (PYDV) contributed to the changes.

We used data for 3,822 children in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2004 and 2011 to 2014. Caries prevalence included prevalence of untreated caries with ≥1 decayed teeth (dt) and prevalence of treated caries with ≥1 filled teeth (ft). Caries severity included number of dt and ft among those with ≥1 dt or ft. We estimated changes in caries outcomes among low- and higher-income children with models-one controlling for sociodemographics and another controlling for sociodemographics and PYDV. Significant changes ( P < 0.05) becoming insignificant after controlling for PYDV provide insight on the contribution of PYDV to changes in outcomes.

Prevalence of untreated caries decreased for low- and higher-income children, with a slightly larger decrease for low-income children; dt decreased only for low-income children; and estimated decreases did not vary by model. An increase in prevalence of treated caries was observed only among low-income children but became minimized and insignificant after controlling for PYDV. Similarly, after controlling for PYDV, the increase in ft among low-income children lost significance, whereas the increase among higher-income children remained.

Untreated caries among children aged 2 to 5 y declined from 1999-2004 to 2011-2014, with larger declines among low-income children. While changes in PYDV contributed to increases in treated caries, particularly for low-income children, additional factors appear to have contributed to decreased untreated caries.

For young children, the degree and direction of changes in caries over the last decade varied by outcome measure (e.g., untreated or treated) and family poverty status. Examining the effect of increased dental utilization on changes in untreated and treated caries outcomes can help identify those policies that contribute to changes in these outcomes and highlight the potential role of the different caries assessment criteria used in dental offices versus those in a population-based survey.