ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026
Trends in Dental Care Visits Across the Lifespan Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: Implications for Practice and Policy.
Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Objective: Age-specific disparities in dental care use continue to exist in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread delays in non-urgent dental care. This study provides national estimates of dental care use and examines associated factors for dental visits in the United States population before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods & Data Source: We used the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for the pre-COVID-19 years (2018-2019) and the COVID-19 years (2020-2021). We estimated yearly survey-weighted trends in the mean number of non-zero dental visits by age using an adapted Anderson Behavior and Dental Care Use conceptual model and Poisson regression, controlling for a comprehensive set of confounders across five domains of influence. Dental care visits were defined as visits to any dental care provider. Results: The overall analytic sample included non-institutionalized, community-living persons (unweighted n=6518, weighted N~320 million), grouped by age as 0-17, 18-44, 45-64, 65-74, and 75+, present in all four years. The prevalence ratio (PR) for dental visits was slightly higher for ages 75+ than for ages 65-74 across 2018-2021, increasing from 1.73 (95% CI: 1.4, 2.1) to 1.84 (95% CI: 1.5, 2.3) to 2.13 (95% CI: 1.7, 2.7) from 2018 to 2020, then rebounding to near pre-pandemic levels in 2021 to 1.66 (95% CI, 1.3, 2.0). Associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic years 2020-2021 that increased dental visits included dental insurance, high income, and having a usual source of care (p<0.01). Conclusions: Dental care use among older adults increased in 2021; however, it did not fully return to pre-pandemic levels. Clinical Implications: Understanding disparities in associated factors for dental care use across all age groups is critical to improving dental practice, policy, and the provision of timely, high-quality care. Future research should investigate factors contributing to delays in dental care beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, including caries burden, decayed teeth, and tooth loss, particularly among older adults.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.