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Dental Treatment Statistics
There are several ways to
measure access to dental care and dental service utilization, including
asking people when they last visited a dentist; determining their judgment
of the health of their own mouth; and directly measuring the amount of tooth
decay that remains untreated. In general, most of these measures have
improved in recent years, although disparities remain among some population
groups. However, the number of people who consider their own oral health to
be excellent or good has decreased in recent years. Because oral health in
general has improved over this time period, it may be that the trend in
self-reported oral health reflects increased expectations.
The National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has been an important source of
information on oral health and dental care in the United States since the
early 1970s. Click on the links below for details about trends in dental
caries as well as detailed caries data from the most recent survey
(1999-2004).
Source:
NIDCR
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