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J Am Dent Assoc, Vol 130, No 5, 659-666. © 1999 American Dental Association

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Background. This article compares national estimates of utilization of and expenditures for dental care and office-based medical care. The comparison includes respondents in several socioeconomic and demographic categories.

Methods. The focus of the analyses is on dental care and office-based medical care utilization during 1987. Specifically, the authors provide national estimates for numbers of dental and office-based medical visits made, expenditures for and sources of payment for each of several socioeconomic and demographic categories using household survey data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey, or NMES.

Results. Data show that out-of-pocket expenditures are greater for dental care than for office-based medical care; that few Medicaid dollars are spent on dental care; that insurance is an important component of dental and office-based medical care; and that dentists provide greater amounts of unreimbursed care than do their office-based physician counterparts.

Conclusions. NMES data show that dental care expenditures are considerable, almost as large as expenditures for office-based medical care, and are a significant component of all non-hospital health care expenditures for noninstitutionalized Americans.

Practice Implications. U.S. dentists provide a significant amount of care. By understanding these analyses, practitioners will be better positioned to provide care and to better meet the dental needs of all Americans.

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