Advances in dental procedures and effective anesthesia have enhanced the importance of endodontic treatments as tools to reduce the negative long-term effects of oral disorders. This cross-sectional study aimed at exploring the predictors of endodontic treatments in the United States in 2018, based on the Andersen behavioral framework, by analyzing data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey’s for 2018. A series of descriptive analyses were used to compare socioeconomic and clinical factors among patients who reported endodontic treatment use and those who did not. Over five million people reported using endodontic treatment. Chi-square analysis showed that age, ethnicity, marital status, education, insurance, income, dental hygienist visits, physical status, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia were all significant factors (p=.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that young, widowed, uninsured, nonsmokers, and patients without a visit to a dental hygienist were less likely to have endodontic treatments, compared to their counterparts.
Keywords:- barriers for dental care
- endodontic treatments
- insurance disparities
- U.S healthcare