Orthodontic dental visits during 1987 and 1996

Americans underwent approximately 355 million dental procedures during 1987, approximately 8% for orthodontic treatment. Individual rates of utilization vary and are not uniform across the population. This article provides estimates of orthodontic utilization for each of several socioeconomic and demographic categories, using household data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) and the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). These data show that slightly more than 3% of the population, or approximately 39 million Americans, visited a dentist to receive orthodontic care nationwide during 1987 and 1996, For those with an orthodontic visit, the mean number of visits per patient decreased in number from 1987 to 1996.