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WITHDRAWN: Racial/Ethnic Disparity in Utilization of General Dental Care Services Among U.S. Adults: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 2012

Yefei Zhang, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health 

Keywords: Racial/ethnic, disparity, general dental care utilization

We examine racial/ethnic disparity and associated factors in general dental care utilization among U.S. adults. A total of 27,394 adults were identified from 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data. Logistic and negative binomial regressions were conducted to assess the effect of race/ethnicity on 1) whether the individual has ever had a general dental visit and 2) the number of general dental visits during the past year, both independently and adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic factors selected according to conceptual framework. Non-Hispanic blacks (OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.48-0.56; 0.52, 0.48-0.56), Hispanics (0.63, 0.57-0.69; 0.63, 0.57-0.69), and other minorities (0.55, 0.50-0.61; 0.55, 0.50-0.61) were less likely to report general dental visit adjusted for other demographic and socioeconomic factors, compared with non-Hispanic whites. The race/ethnicity disparity in the utilization of general dental still exists. Policymakers and dental care providers should promote dental insurance coverage and language support programs and increase the diversity of dental professionals among minorities to encourage their visits to dentists.