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Leading Health Indicators
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Use of oral health care system (OH-7)
Use of oral health care system (OH-7)
- Healthy People 2020 objective OH-7 tracks the proportion of children, adolescents, and adults who used the oral health care system in the past year.
- Baseline: 44.5% of persons aged 2 years and older had a dental visit in the past 12 months (age adjusted) in 2007.
- HP2020 Target: 49.0%, a 10% improvement over the baseline.
- Over the past decade, the percentage of persons aged 2 years and over who had a dental visit in the past 12 months, decreased slightly from 44.3% in 1999 to 43.0% in 2009 (age adjusted), though this change was not statistically significant.
- In 2009, 43.0% of persons aged 2 years and older had a dental visit in the past 12 months (age adjusted).
- Females (46.5%, age adjusted) aged 2 years and over had a higher percentage with a dental visit than males (39.6%) in 2009. When expressed as the proportion of persons without a dental visit in the past year, the percentage for males was nearly 13% higher than that for females.
- Persons aged 2 to 17 years had the highest percentage with a dental visit, 50.9%, among broad age groups in 2009. Percentages for the other age groups were:
- 36.2% among persons aged 18-44.
- 46.4% among persons aged 45-64 years.
- 44.2% among persons aged 65 years and over.
- When further refining the age groups, persons aged 12 to 17 years had the highest percentage with a dental visit, 56.3% in 2009. Percentages for the other age groups were:
- 31.2% among persons aged 2-4 years,
- 55.0% among persons aged 5-11 years,
- 35.6% among persons aged 18-24 years.
- 36.4% among persons aged 25-44 years.
- 44.5% among persons aged 45-54 years.
- 49.3% among persons aged 55-64 years.
- 47.1% among persons aged 65-74 years.
- 41.9% among persons aged 75-84 years.
- 38.5% among persons aged 85 years and over.
- Among education groups for persons aged 25 years and over, those who attended at least some college had the highest percentage with a dental visit, 57.6% (age adjusted) in 2009. Percentages for other education groups were:
- 17.7% among those with less than a high school education (lowest percentage)
- 35.9% among those with a high school education or GED
- When expressed as adults aged 25 years and over without a dental visit in the past year, the rate for those with less than a high school education was nearly twice that of the population with at least some college education.
- Among income groups, those with family incomes more than 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) had the highest percentage with a dental visit, 57.2% (age adjusted) in 2009. Percentages for other income groups were:
- 27.1% among those with family incomes less than the FPL (lowest rate)
- 29.6% among those with family incomes between 100% and 199% of the FPL
- 41.3% among those with family incomes between 200% and 399% of the FPL
- When expressed as persons aged 2 years and over without a dental visit in the past year, the percentage for those with family incomes below the FPL and between 100% and 199% of the FPL was more than one and a half times that for those with family incomes more than 400% of the FPL.
- Among racial and ethnic groups, the white non-Hispanic population had the highest percentage, with 49.0% of persons aged 2 years and over (age adjusted) visiting a dentist in the past year in 2009. Percentages for other racial and ethnic groups were:
- 27.8% among the Hispanic population (lowest rate)
- 30.6% among the black, not-Hispanic population
- 33.7% among the American Indian or Alaska Native population
- 33.8% among the Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander population
- 37.9% among those who identify with 2 or more races
- 42.1% among the Asian population
- When expressed as persons without a dental visit in the past year, percentages for all other racial and ethnic groups were 14% to 42% higher than that of the white non-Hispanic population.
- In 2009, persons aged 2-64 years with private health insurance had the highest percentage with a dental visit, 51.4% (age adjusted), among insurance groups. Those with public insurance and the uninsured had percentages of 28.9% and 18.0% (age adjusted), respectively. When expressed as persons aged 2–64 years without a dental visit in the past year, the percentage for the uninsured population was more than one and a half times that for those with private health insurance.
Endnotes:
- All disparities described are statistically significant at the 0.05 level of significance. To maintain comparability across indicators, disparities are computed using adverse events. Data (except those by education status, health insurance coverage and age group) are age adjusted to the 2000 standard population using the age groups 2–17, 18–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74, and 75 years and over. Data by education status are adjusted using the age groups 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74, and 75 years and over. Data by health insurance coverage are adjusted using the age groups 2–17, 18–44, 45–54, 55–64. Data by age group are not age adjusted. Age-adjusted rates are weighted sums of age-specific rates.
- The terms “Hispanic or Latino” and “Hispanic” are used interchangeably in this report.
- Data for this measure are available annually and come from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), AHRQ.
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