Dental utilisation for older Americans aged 55-75

The purpose of this study was to analyze a comprehensive nationally representative data set to determine the effect of economic and non-economic determinants on the decision to seek care and the decision to select a specific number of dental visits.

The conduct of this study involved the examination and analyses of secondary data available from the National Health Interview Survey. A two-part choice logistic regression model was utilized to first describe the decision to seek care and second to describe factors associated with the decision to select a specific number of dental visits as a function of income, education, family size, age, marital status, presence of teeth, employment status, health status, gender, race, insurance status, and reason for dental visit.

Data analysis focused on 5.327 non-institutional older adults between the ages of 55 and 75 who were not eligible for Medicaid.

Results provide supporting evidence that income, presence of dental insurance, presence of teeth, gender, family size, education race and age are associated with the decision to seek dental care and that income, presence of dental insurance, gender, family size, education, and race are associated with the number of dental visits among users even when the effects of other variables are controlled for.

Analyses suggest that employment may have a surprisingly limited effect on dental utilisation and that among explanatory variables there are differences in significance and magnitude between the decision to seek care and the decision to select a specific number of dental visits. In addition, in contrast with some prior studies, health status does not appear to be associated with the decision to seek care or associated with the number of dental visits among respondents.