Disparities in Dental Use and Untreated Caries Prevalence by Income.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Untreated dental caries (UC) is a prevalent disease in the US, disproportionately affecting lower-income populations.
• UC impacts quality of life and productivity, highlighting the need to address income-related disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine changes in income-based disparities for past-year dental use (DU) and UC across four life stages between 1999-2004 and 2011-2016.
• To assess the concurrent changes in dental safety net policies affecting these disparities.

Main Methods:

• Utilized nationally representative cross-sectional survey data from 1999-2004 and 2011-2016.
• Employed multivariable regression models with income, life stage, and survey period as key variables, including interaction terms to analyze changes in disparities over time.

Main Results:

• Disparities in DU decreased for children (preschool and school-age), and UC disparities decreased for school-age children.
• No significant changes in DU or UC disparities were observed for working-age adults; disparities increased for retirement-age adults.
• Changes in disparities differed significantly across life stages, with youth experiencing improvements while older adults saw increased disparities.

Conclusions:

• Expansion of the dental safety net for youth likely contributed to increased dental care access and reduced DU and UC disparities among children.
• The findings suggest that targeted policy interventions can effectively mitigate income-based health disparities in dental health.