Oral Health Status and

Access to Oral Health Care

for U.S.Adults Aged 18–64:

National Health Interview

Survey, 2008

Series 10, Number 253 July 2012
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Suggested citation

Bloom B, Simile CM, Adams PF, Cohen RA. Oral health status and access to

oral health care for U.S. adults aged 18–64: National Health Interview Survey,

2008. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(253). 2012.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Oral health status and access to oral health care for U.S. adults aged 18–64 :

National Health Interview Survey, 2008.

p. ; cm.— (Vital and health statistics. Series 10, Data from the National

Health Interview Survey ; no. 253) (DHHS publication ; no. (PHS)2012–1581)

‘‘July 2012.’’

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978–0-8406–0653-2 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0–8406-0653–2 (alk. paper)

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(PHS)2012–1581.
 

[DNLM: 1. Oral Health—statistics & numerical data—United States. 2.
 

Adult—United States. 3. Dental Health Services—utilization—United States. 4.
 

Dental Health Surveys—United States. 5. Health Services Accessibility—
 

statistics & numerical data—United States. 6. Health Status—United States—
 

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Series 10, Number 253

Oral Health Status and Access to

Oral Health Care for U.S.Adults

Aged 18–64: National Health

Interview Survey, 2008

Data From the National Health

Interview Survey

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

Hyattsville, Maryland

July 2012

DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 2012–1581
National Center for Health Statistics

Edward J. Sondik, Ph.D., Director

Jennifer H. Madans, Ph.D., Associate Director for Science

Division of Health Interview Statistics

Jane F. Gentleman, Ph.D., Director
Contents
 

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 
 

Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 
 

Methods ................................................................................................. 2 
 

Data Source ............................................................................................ 2 
 

Data Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 
 

Variance Estimation and Significance Testing .................................................................. 2 
 

Selected Highlights ........................................................................................ 2 
 

Oral Health Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 
 

Comparative Oral Health Status ............................................................................. 2 
 

Time Since Last Dental Visit ............................................................................... 3 
 

Problems With Mouth in Past 6 Months ...................................................................... 3 
 

Problems With Teeth in Past 6 Months for Dentate Adults ....................................................... 3 
 

Reasons That Adults With an Oral Health Problem Did Not Visit a Dentist for Their Problem in Past 6 Months............ 3 
 

Unmet Dental Need Due to Cost in Past 12 Months for Dentate Adults With and Without Oral Health Problems ........... 3 
 

References ................................................................................................ 3 
 

Appendix I. Technical Notes on Methods ...................................................................... 19 
 

Appendix II. Definitions of Selected Terms..................................................................... 20 
 

Detailed Tables

1.	 Percent distributions of oral health status among adults aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health characteristics:
 

United States, 2008................................................................................... 5 
 

2.	 Percent distributions of comparative oral health status among adults aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health
 

characteristics: United States, 2008 ...................................................................... 7 
 

3.	 Percent distributions of length of time since last visit with a dentist or other dental health professional among adults
 

aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health characteristics: United States, 2008 ............................. 9 
 

4.	 Percentages of adults aged 18–64 who had problems with mouth in the past 6 months, by selected demographic and
 

health characteristics: United States, 2008 ............................................................... 11 
 

5.	 Percentages of dentate adults aged 18–64 who had problems with teeth in the past 6 months, by selected demographic
 

and health characteristics: United States, 2008 ............................................................ 13 
 

6.	 Percentages of adults aged 18–64 with a mouth or tooth problem who did not see a dentist or other dental health
 

professional in the past 6 months, by reason and by selected demographic and health characteristics:
 

United States, 2008.................................................................................. 15 
 

7.	 Percentages of dentate adults aged 18–64 who had an unmet dental need due to cost in the past 12 months, dentate
 

adults with no mouth or teeth problems, with one or more mouth or teeth problems, and with toothache as a problem,
 

by selected demographic and health characteristics: United States, 2008 ....................................... 17 
 

iii
Objectives

This report presents statistics from

the 2008 National Health Interview

Survey (NHIS) on selected measures of

oral health status and oral health care

access for adults aged 18–64.

Estimates are presented by sex, age,

race and ethnicity, nativity, education,

poverty status, health and dental

insurance status, region, place of

residence, dentition status, current

smoking status, current drinking status,

and diabetes status.

Data Source

NHIS is a multistage probability

sample survey conducted annually by

interviewers of the U.S. Census Bureau

for the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention’s National Center for Health

Statistics, and is representative of the

civilian noninstitutionalized population of

the United States. Data are collected

for all family members during face-toface interviews with adults present at

the time of interview. Additional health

information is obtained from one

randomly selected adult. If the selected

adult is physically or mentally incapable

of responding for himself or herself, a

proxy respondent is used.

Selected Highlights

Among adults aged 18–64, about

three-quarters had very good or good

oral health, 17% had fair oral health,

and 7% had poor oral health. Adults

with Medicaid were almost five times as

likely as adults with private health

insurance to have poor oral health.

Adults with Medicaid (21%) were almost

twice as likely as adults overall (12%)

to not have had a dental visit in more

than 5 years. Among adults aged

18–64, the main reason to forgo a

dental visit for an oral health problem in

the past 6 months was cost; 42% could

not afford treatment or did not have

insurance. Fear was the reason that 1

out of 10 adults did not visit the dentist

for an oral health problem.

Keywords: dental care • dental

problem • dental visit • unmet dental

need

Oral Health Status and Access

to Oral Health Care for U.S.

Adults Aged 18–64: National

Health Interview Survey, 2008

by Barbara Bloom, M.P.A.; Catherine M. Simile, Ph.D.; Patricia F.

Adams; and Robin A. Cohen, Ph.D., Division of Health Interview

Statistics

Introduction

In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General

issued a report (1) calling attention to

the ‘‘silent epidemic’’ of dental and oral

diseases suffered by millions of children

and adults throughout the United States.

The report emphasized the importance

of oral health to overall health and

noted that lifestyle behaviors that affect

general health such as tobacco use,

excessive alcohol use, and poor dietary

choices also affect oral and craniofacial

health. It observed that safe and

effective measures do exist to prevent

the most common dental diseases, dental

caries and periodontal diseases, but it

also underscored the disparities in oral

health and access to oral health care

within the U.S. population. The Surgeon

General’s report (1) and subsequent

initiatives (2–4) emphasized the need for

more information about the status of the

U.S. population’s oral health and the

ability to access oral health care.

Based on the recommendations of

the Surgeon General’s report (1) and the

National Call to Action to Promote Oral

Health (2), the National Institute of

Dental and Craniofacial Research

(NIDCR) at the National Institutes of

Health (NIH) sponsored a set of

supplementary questions about oral

health on the 2008 National Health

Interview Survey (NHIS) (5). The

purpose of the collaboration was

twofold: 1) to develop and expand oral

health outcome measures; and 2) to

produce estimates for the U.S.

population as a whole, and for racial

and ethnic minorities, rural populations,

the young, the elderly, and other

subpopulations that could be used to

study the impact of the initiatives to

improve oral health.

This report uses data from the oral

health supplement of the 2008 NHIS to

provide prevalence estimates of oral

health status; oral health status

compared with others the same age;

length of time since last dental visit;

mouth problems, including bad breath,

dry mouth, difficulty eating or chewing,

jaw pain, and mouth sores; tooth

problems, including toothache or

sensitive teeth, stained or discolored

teeth, broken or missing teeth, crooked

teeth, bleeding gums, broken or missing

fillings, and loose teeth not due to

injury; reasons for not seeing a dentist

for mouth or tooth problems; and unmet

dental need due to cost for adults aged

18–64 living in households throughout

the United States. Tables 1–7 are

presented for various subgroups of the

population, including those defined by

sex, age, race and ethnicity, nativity,

education, poverty status, health and

dental insurance status, region, place of

residence, dentition status, current

smoking status, current drinking status,

and diabetes status. Appendix I contains

brief technical notes including

information about the number of

unknowns with respect to each health

characteristic and the treatment of

unknown values, and Appendix II

contains the definitions of terms used in

this report.

Page 1
Page 2 [ Series 10, No. 253

Methods
 

Data Source

NHIS data are collected

continuously throughout the year for the

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention’s National Center for Health

Statistics (NCHS), by interviewers from

the U.S. Census Bureau. NHIS collects

information about a broad range of

health topics for the civilian

noninstitutionalized U.S. population.

Interviews are conducted in respondents’

homes, but followups to complete

interviews may be conducted over the

telephone. The Family component

collects information about all family

members from one responsible family

member of the age of majority for a

given state. The Sample Adult

component collects additional data from

one randomly selected adult (the

‘‘sample adult’’). Self-response is

required in the Sample Adult interview

unless the designated respondent is

physically or mentally incapable of

responding for him- or herself, in which

case a proxy may respond. If a child is

present in the family, the Sample Child

component collects additional data on

one randomly selected child (the

‘‘sample child’’). A knowledgeable adult

in the family provides information about

the sample child.

In addition, the 2008 NHIS

included a set of supplementary oral

health questions, cosponsored by

NIDCR, which were added to the

Sample Adult core. Estimates contained

in this report are based on data collected

in the 2008 Family core and the Sample

Adult core. The report presents data on

adults aged 18–64, the sample size for

which is 17,337. For further information

about NHIS, including the questionnaire,

visit the NHIS website at http://www.

cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.

Data Limitations

In this report, oral health is defined

as health of the mouth and teeth. Oral

health status is based on the sample

adult’s self-assessment of the condition

of his or her mouth and teeth. No

clinical measurements were taken;

therefore, an individual’s oral health

status may differ from the evaluation of

oral health status by a dental health

professional. Respondents also may

experience recall problems or have

different cultural definitions of illness or

health, either of which could result in

inaccurate responses. Furthermore, as

with all surveys, respondents may

simply underreport characteristics or

conditions that they consider

undesirable. Thus, it is likely that some

of the prevalence estimates presented in

this report are conservative. Some

underestimates due to item nonresponse

and unknowns, which are excluded from

the tables, may also exist.

Although many of the

sociodemographic and health

characteristics examined are likely to be

correlated, this report is limited to

highlighting the sociodemographic

variations for each oral health status and

oral health care access characteristic

separately.

Some oral health problems may be

associated with age. While the tables

show estimates by various age groups,

the prevalence estimates presented in the

tables are not age adjusted in order to

provide a measure of oral health burden.

In addition, note that data presented in

Tables 1–3, 5, and 6 were based on

questions asked of dentate and

edentulous persons, so both were

included in these tables. Data presented

in Tables 4 and 7 were based on

questions asked only of dentate persons,

so only dentate persons were included in

these tables. Lastly, data presented in

Table 6 were based on a question asked

only of adults who indicated that they

had a mouth or tooth problem as

detailed in Tables 4 and 5.

Variance Estimation and

Significance Testing

Estimates and associated standard

errors shown in Tables 1–7 were

generated using SUDAAN, a software

package designed to handle complex

sample designs such as that used by

NHIS (6). Estimates were weighted to

represent the U.S. civilian

noninstitutionalized population.

Estimates with a relative standard error

greater than 30% and less than or equal

to 50% are identified with an asterisk

preceding the estimate. Readers should

exercise caution when interpreting these

statistics. Estimates with a relative

standard error more than 50% are

indicated with a dagger and are not

shown.

Statistical tests performed to assess

significance of differences between

estimates were two-tailed t tests at the

0.05 level with no adjustments for

multiple comparisons. Terms such as

‘‘greater than’’ and ‘‘less than’’ indicate

a statistically significant difference.

Terms such as ‘‘similar’’ or ‘‘no

difference’’ indicate that the statistics

being compared were not significantly

different. Lack of comment regarding

the difference between any two statistics

does not mean that the difference was

tested and found to be not significant.

Selected Highlights

Oral Health Status

(Table 1)

+	 Among adults aged 18–64, about

three-quarters had very good or

good oral health, 17% had fair oral

health, and 7% had poor oral health.

+	 Non-Hispanic white (37%) and

non-Hispanic Asian (37%) adults

were more likely than Hispanic

(25%) or non-Hispanic black (26%)

adults to have very good oral health.

+	 Adults with Medicaid (19%) were

almost five times as likely as adults

with private health insurance (4%)

to have poor oral health.

Comparative Oral Health

Status (Table 2)

+	 Level of education was positively

associated with having better

comparative oral health status; 20%

of adults aged 18–64 with less than

a high school diploma compared

with 39% of adults with a bachelor’s

degree or higher had better oral

health status than others the same

age.
 

	 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

	 

 

 

 

 

 

Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 3

+	 Adults with diabetes (29%) were

almost twice as likely as adults

without diabetes (16%) to have

worse oral health status than others

the same age.

+	 Adults in poor families (28%) were

more than twice as likely as adults

in families that were not poor (13%)

to have worse oral health status than

others the same age.

Time Since Last Dental

Visit (Table 3)

+	 Overall, 6 out of 10 adults aged

18–64 last visited a dentist or other

dental health professional within the

past year.

+	 Adults with Medicaid (21%) were

almost twice as likely as adults

overall (12%) to not have had a

dental visit in more than 5 years.

+	 Diabetic adults (19%) were almost

twice as likely as nondiabetic adults

(11%) to not have had a dental visit

in more than 5 years.

Problems With Mouth in

Past 6 Months (Table 4)

+	 Non-Hispanic Asian adults aged

18–64 experienced fewer mouth

problems than Hispanic, nonHispanic white, or non-Hispanic

black adults, including problems

with bad breath, dry mouth,

difficulty eating or chewing, or jaw

pain.

+	 Former drinkers were about twice as

likely as lifetime abstainers and one

and one-half times as likely as

current drinkers to have experienced

bad breath, dry mouth, or difficulty

eating or chewing.

+	 Edentulous adults (17%) were

almost twice as likely as dentate

adults (9%) to have had dry mouth.

Problems With Teeth in

Past 6 Months for Dentate

Adults (Table 5)

+	 Non-Hispanic Asian adults aged

18–64 were less likely than

Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, or

non-Hispanic black adults to have a

variety of problems with their teeth,

including stained or discolored teeth,

broken or missing teeth, crooked

teeth, bleeding gums, broken or

missing fillings, or loose teeth not

due to injury.

+	 Adults with Medicaid were more

likely than uninsured adults to

experience toothache or sensitive

teeth, stained or discolored teeth,

broken or missing teeth, broken or

missing fillings, or loose teeth not

due to injury.

+	 In general, lifetime abstainers from

alcohol were less likely to have had

problems with their teeth than

current or former drinkers.

Reasons That Adults With

an Oral Health Problem

Did Not Visit a Dentist for

Their Problem in Past 6

Months (Table 6)

+	 Among adults aged 18–64, the main

reason to forgo a dental visit for an

oral health problem in the past 6

months was cost; 42% could not

afford treatment or did not have

insurance.

+	 Adults with a bachelor’s degree or

higher (33%) were almost twice as

likely as those with less than a high

school diploma (18%) to forgo a

dental visit for a problem because

they thought it was not important.

+	 Fear was the reason that 1 out of 10

adults did not visit the dentist for an

oral health problem.

Unmet Dental Need Due to

Cost in Past 12 Months for

Dentate Adults With and

Without Oral Health

Problems (Table 7)

+	 Overall, 16% of dentate adults aged

18–64 had an unmet dental need due

to cost in the past 12 months.

+	 Among dentate adults with one or

more mouth or teeth problems, more

than one-half of those who were

uninsured had unmet dental need

due to cost. One-third of those with

Medicaid had unmet dental need

compared with almost one-quarter of

those with private health insurance

but no dental coverage, and more

than one-tenth of those with private

health insurance with dental

coverage.

References

1.	 U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services. Oral health in America: A

report of the Surgeon General.

Rockville, MD: National Institute of

Dental and Craniofacial Research.

2000.

2.	 U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services. National call to action to

promote oral health. Rockville, MD:

National Institute of Dental and

Craniofacial Research. NIH Publication

No. 03–5303. 2003.

3.	 U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services. Healthy people 2010. Oral

health objectives. Available from:

http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/

topicsobjectives2020/objectives

list.aspx?topicId=32 [Accessed

6/20/12].

4.	 U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services. Promoting and enhancing the

oral health of the public: HHS Oral

Health Initiative 2010. Available from:

http://www.hrsa.gov/publichealth/

clinical/oralhealth/hhsinitiative.pdf

[Accessed 6/20/12].

5.	 National Center for Health Statistics.

2008 National Health Interview Survey

(NHIS) public use data release. NHIS

survey description. Available from:

ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/health_statistics/

nchs/dataset_documentation/nhis/2008/

srvydesc.pdf. 2009.

6.	 RTI International. SUDAAN, Release

10.0 [computer software]. Research

Triangle Park, NC: RTI International.

2008. Available from: http://www.

rti.org/SUDAAN/.

7.	 Schenker N, Raghunathan TE, Chiu

PL, et al. Multiple imputation of family

income and personal earnings in the

National Health Interview Survey:

Methods and examples. National Center

for Health Statistics. 2008. Available

from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/

nhis/tecdoc.pdf.

8.	 DeNavas-Walt C, Proctor BD, Smith J.

U.S. Census Bureau. Income, poverty,

and health insurance coverage in the

United States: 2007. Current Population

Reports, P60–235. Washington, DC:

U.S. Government Printing Office. 2008.
Page 4 [ Series 10, No. 253

Available from: http://www.census.gov/

prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf.

9.	 Office of Management and Budget.

Revisions to the standards for the

classification of federal data on race

and ethnicity. Fed Regist

62(210):58782–90. 1997.

10.	 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

Services. Dental care. Available from:

http://www.medicaid.gov/MedicaidCHIP-Program-Information/By-Topics/

Benefits/Dental-Care.html [Accessed

6/21/12].

11.	 Bloom B, Simpson G, Cohen RA,

Parsons PE. 1997 Access to health care

part 2: Working-age adults. National

Center for Health Statistics. Vital

Health Stat 10(197). 1997.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 5

Table 1. Percent distributions of oral health status among adults aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health characteristics:

United States, 2008

Oral health status1

Very

Selected characteristic Total good Good Fair Poor

Percent distribution2 (standard error)

Total3

............................................. 100.0 33.8 (0.53) 41.7 (0.50) 17.3 (0.38) 7.1 (0.27)

Sex

Male ............................................. 100.0 31.6 (0.71) 43.3 (0.72) 18.2 (0.56) 6.9 (0.37)

Female ........................................... 100.0 36.0 (0.69) 40.2 (0.65) 16.5 (0.47) 7.3 (0.36)

Age in years

18–34 ............................................ 100.0 37.5 (0.84) 41.5 (0.84) 16.2 (0.63) 4.9 (0.36)

35–44 ............................................ 100.0 32.5 (0.94) 43.1 (0.94) 16.9 (0.73) 7.5 (0.56)

45–54 ............................................ 100.0 32.3 (0.94) 40.7 (0.93) 18.1 (0.75) 9.0 (0.56)

55–64 ............................................ 100.0 30.0 (0.97) 41.9 (1.03) 19.2 (0.82) 8.9 (0.58)

Race/ethnicity4

Hispanic or Latino ..................................... 100.0 25.2 (1.03) 44.4 (1.12) 23.2 (0.98) 7.2 (0.59)

Non-Hispanic ........................................

White, single race ................................... 100.0 36.9 (0.67) 40.4 (0.64) 15.5 (0.47) 7.1 (0.35)

Black, single race.................................... 100.0 26.3 (1.11) 44.3 (1.34) 21.1 (1.04) 8.3 (0.62)

Asian, single race ................................... 100.0 36.5 (1.93) 44.9 (1.84) 14.5 (1.20) 4.2 (0.71)

Nativity5

U.S. born .......................................... 100.0 34.7 (0.58) 41.1 (0.56) 16.9 (0.42) 7.4 (0.30)

Foreign born ........................................ 100.0 29.6 (1.05) 45.0 (1.10) 19.5 (0.87) 5.9 (0.50)

Education6

Less than a high school diploma ............................ 100.0 17.1 (1.15) 39.1 (1.27) 28.7 (1.25) 15.1 (0.98)

High school diploma or GED7

.............................. 100.0 23.6 (0.88) 42.8 (1.00) 22.0 (0.86) 11.5 (0.64)

Some college. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 32.6 (0.84) 42.0 (0.91) 18.0 (0.68) 7.3 (0.47)

Bachelor’s degree or higher............................... 100.0 46.1 (0.92) 41.9 (0.91) 9.8 (0.52) 2.1 (0.27)

Poverty status8

Poor ............................................. 100.0 24.0 (1.35) 36.7 (1.20) 24.6 (1.16) 14.7 (0.95)

Near poor .......................................... 100.0 23.0 (1.10) 41.2 (1.14) 23.5 (0.98) 12.3 (0.81)

Not poor........................................... 100.0 38.1 (0.61) 42.7 (0.62) 14.6 (0.42) 4.6 (0.25)

Health and dental insurance status9

Private health insurance ................................. 100.0 39.5 (0.60) 42.7 (0.63) 14.0 (0.43) 3.8 (0.24)

Dental coverage from single-service plan only .................. 100.0 40.2 (1.11) 42.5 (1.11) 13.5 (0.84) 3.8 (0.41)

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only ................. 100.0 40.5 (1.03) 41.9 (1.02) 13.7 (0.73) 3.9 (0.44)

Dental coverage from both single-service and comprehensive plans .... 100.0 37.9 (1.57) 46.9 (1.64) 11.7 (0.99) 3.5 (0.59)

No dental insurance .................................. 100.0 37.9 (1.10) 41.6 (1.14) 16.4 (0.93) 4.0 (0.47)

Medicaid10 ......................................... 100.0 19.5 (1.34) 36.6 (1.52) 25.3 (1.33) 18.7 (1.26)

Other coverage ...................................... 100.0 25.0 (1.97) 39.6 (2.14) 21.7 (1.88) 13.7 (1.43)

Uninsured .......................................... 100.0 22.1 (1.00) 40.8 (1.05) 24.8 (0.92) 12.3 (0.73)

Region

Northeast .......................................... 100.0 34.7 (1.27) 42.5 (1.27) 16.2 (0.93) 6.5 (0.58)

Midwest ........................................... 100.0 35.0 (1.31) 42.2 (1.13) 16.1 (0.80) 6.7 (0.58)

South ............................................ 100.0 32.8 (0.79) 41.0 (0.75) 18.3 (0.66) 7.9 (0.45)

West ............................................. 100.0 33.6 (0.97) 41.8 (1.02) 17.8 (0.72) 6.9 (0.54)

Place of residence

Urban ............................................ 100.0 34.5 (0.57) 41.9 (0.54) 16.8 (0.41) 6.8 (0.29)

Rural ............................................. 100.0 31.2 (1.24) 41.2 (1.16) 19.3 (0.92) 8.4 (0.57)

Dentition status

Edentulous11 ........................................ 100.0 28.5 (2.07) 47.7 (2.22) 14.7 (1.48) 9.1 (1.21)

Dentate ........................................... 100.0 34.1 (0.53) 41.4 (0.50) 17.4 (0.39) 7.0 (0.27)

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 6 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 1. Percent distributions of oral health status among adults aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health characteristics:

United States, 2008—Con.

Oral health status1

Very

Selected characteristic Total good Good Fair Poor

Current smoking status12 Percent distribution2 (standard error)

Current smoker ...................................... 100.0 21.2 (0.88) 38.6 (0.98) 24.7 (0.87) 15.5 (0.74)

Former smoker....................................... 100.0 33.3 (1.06) 41.2 (1.09) 17.9 (0.79) 7.7 (0.59)

Never smoker ....................................... 100.0 38.9 (0.64) 43.0 (0.62) 14.3 (0.43) 3.7 (0.23)

Current drinking status13

Lifetime abstainer ..................................... 100.0 36.4 (1.10) 41.7 (1.11) 15.7 (0.75) 6.2 (0.52)

Former drinker ....................................... 100.0 23.0 (1.16) 42.6 (1.37) 21.9 (1.07) 12.6 (0.87)

Current light or infrequent drinker ........................... 100.0 35.1 (0.73) 41.8 (0.69) 17.0 (0.55) 6.1 (0.35)

Current moderate or heavier drinker.......................... 100.0 34.9 (1.00) 40.9 (1.06) 17.0 (0.79) 7.2 (0.57)

Diabetes status14

Yes .............................................. 100.0 18.9 (1.50) 40.5 (1.88) 25.9 (1.61) 14.7 (1.33)

No .............................................. 100.0 34.8 (0.53) 41.8 (0.52) 16.7 (0.39) 6.6 (0.26)

1

Based on the question: ‘‘How would you describe the condition of your mouth and teeth? Would you say very good, good, fair or poor?’’
 

2

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages. Percentages may not add to totals due to rounding.
 

3

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current
 

drinking status, and diabetes status.
 

4

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple races are not shown
 

separately due to small sample sizes.
 

5

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
 

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as persons living in the United States who were not
 

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

6

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

7

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

8

Based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’
 

persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the different income
 

questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

9

Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category
 

in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category ‘‘private
 

health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance, Medicare,
 

Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as uninsured
 

if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by ‘‘Medicaid’’
 

or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and types of dental
 

insurance coverage.
 

10Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

11Refers to persons who have lost all of their upper and lower natural teeth.
 

12A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

13A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12
 

drinks in past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12
 

drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

14Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 7

Table 2. Percent distributions of comparative oral health status among adults aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health

characteristics: United States, 2008

Comparative oral health status1

Better than Same as Not as good

others the others the as others the

Selected characteristic Total same age same age same age

Percent distribution2 (standard error)

Total3 .......................................... 100.0 29.9 (0.47) 53.5 (0.51) 16.5 (0.39)

Sex

Male........................................... 100.0 29.2 (0.68) 54.4 (0.73) 16.4 (0.55)

Female ......................................... 100.0 30.7 (0.58) 52.7 (0.65) 16.6 (0.51)

Age in years

18–34 .......................................... 100.0 28.1 (0.78) 57.0 (0.84) 14.9 (0.59)

35–44 .......................................... 100.0 28.3 (0.92) 54.8 (0.99) 16.9 (0.74)

45–54 .......................................... 100.0 30.6 (0.90) 50.9 (1.02) 18.5 (0.79)

55–64 .......................................... 100.0 35.1 (1.04) 48.0 (1.13) 16.9 (0.84)

Race/ethnicity4

Hispanic or Latino .................................. 100.0 25.9 (1.07) 57.1 (1.17) 16.9 (0.91)

Non-Hispanic .....................................

White, single race ................................. 100.0 30.8 (0.59) 52.5 (0.65) 16.6 (0.51)

Black, single race ................................. 100.0 30.4 (1.13) 52.2 (1.20) 17.4 (0.91)

Asian, single race ................................. 100.0 28.7 (1.83) 58.5 (1.82) 12.8 (1.19)

Nativity5

U.S. born ........................................ 100.0 30.3 (0.52) 52.8 (0.56) 16.9 (0.44)

Foreign born ...................................... 100.0 27.9 (0.97) 57.4 (1.08) 14.7 (0.79)

Education6

Less than a high school diploma ......................... 100.0 19.5 (1.10) 51.4 (1.40) 29.0 (1.31)

High school diploma or GED7 ........................... 100.0 25.5 (0.90) 51.6 (1.00) 22.9 (0.94)

Some college ..................................... 100.0 30.2 (0.85) 52.9 (0.98) 16.9 (0.66)

Bachelor’s degree or higher ............................ 100.0 38.5 (0.93) 53.1 (0.96) 8.4 (0.50)

Poverty status8

Poor ........................................... 100.0 21.9 (1.09) 50.5 (1.30) 27.7 (1.19)

Near poor ....................................... 100.0 22.6 (0.96) 53.5 (1.15) 23.9 (1.05)

Not poor ........................................ 100.0 33.0 (0.58) 54.1 (0.61) 12.9 (0.40)

Health and dental insurance status9

Private health insurance............................... 100.0 33.7 (0.59) 54.4 (0.63) 11.8 (0.39)

Dental coverage from single-service plan only................ 100.0 35.3 (1.19) 52.8 (1.22) 11.9 (0.73)

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only ............... 100.0 33.5 (1.02) 55.1 (1.06) 11.4 (0.67)

Dental coverage from both single-service and comprehensive plans . . 100.0 34.4 (1.47) 54.3 (1.61) 11.3 (1.03)

No dental insurance ................................ 100.0 31.8 (1.05) 55.3 (1.17) 12.9 (0.86)

Medicaid10 ....................................... 100.0 20.3 (1.30) 46.5 (1.59) 33.2 (1.53)

Other coverage .................................... 100.0 27.2 (1.95) 47.2 (2.22) 25.6 (1.91)

Uninsured ....................................... 100.0 21.3 (0.85) 54.4 (1.06) 24.3 (0.92)

Region

Northeast........................................ 100.0 27.2 (1.15) 57.0 (1.23) 15.8 (0.86)

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 31.7 (1.11) 53.2 (1.16) 15.1 (0.74)

South .......................................... 100.0 30.6 (0.70) 51.5 (0.74) 17.9 (0.69)

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 29.1 (0.94) 54.6 (1.07) 16.2 (0.81)

Place of residence

Urban .......................................... 100.0 30.2 (0.53) 53.8 (0.57) 16.0 (0.43)

Rural .......................................... 100.0 28.8 (0.99) 52.4 (1.05) 18.7 (0.89)

Dentition status

Edentulous11...................................... 100.0 20.0 (1.80) 52.1 (2.12) 27.9 (1.95)

Dentate ......................................... 100.0 30.5 (0.49) 53.6 (0.52) 15.9 (0.39)

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 8 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 2. Percent distributions of comparative oral health status among adults aged 18–64, by selected demographic and health

characteristics: United States, 2008—Con.

Comparative oral health status1

Better than Same as Not as good

others the others the as others the

Selected characteristic Total same age same age same age

Current smoking status12 Percent distribution2 (standard error)

Current smoker .................................... 100.0 20.8 (0.81) 48.3 (1.04) 30.9 (0.99)

Former smoker .................................... 100.0 32.6 (1.01) 50.4 (1.08) 17.0 (0.85)

Never smoker ..................................... 100.0 32.7 (0.59) 56.4 (0.63) 10.9 (0.38)

Current drinking status13

Lifetime abstainer................................... 100.0 27.1 (0.94) 58.9 (1.08) 14.0 (0.74)

Former drinker .................................... 100.0 25.3 (1.14) 51.0 (1.36) 23.7 (1.14)

Current light or infrequent drinker ......................... 100.0 31.4 (0.67) 52.8 (0.70) 15.8 (0.53)

Current moderate or heavier drinker ....................... 100.0 32.4 (1.01) 51.1 (1.07) 16.6 (0.81)

Diabetes status14

Yes ........................................... 100.0 24.3 (1.52) 47.1 (1.76) 28.6 (1.68)

No ............................................ 100.0 30.3 (0.48) 54.0 (0.52) 15.7 (0.39)

1

Based on the question: ‘‘Would you say the condition of your mouth and teeth is better than, the same as or not as good as other people your age?’’
 

2

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages. Percentages may not add to total due to rounding.
 

3

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current
 

drinking status, and diabetes status.
 

4

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple races are not shown
 

separately due to small sample sizes.
 

5

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
 

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as persons living in the United States who were not
 

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

6

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

7

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

8

Based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’
 

persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the different income
 

questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

9

Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category
 

in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category ‘‘private
 

health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance, Medicare,
 

Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as uninsured
 

if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by ‘‘Medicaid’’
 

or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and types of dental
 

insurance coverage.
 

10Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

11Refers to persons who have lost all of their upper and lower natural teeth.
 

12A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

13A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in
 

past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime,
 

at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

14Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 9

Table 3. Percent distributions of length of time since last visit with a dentist or other dental health professional among adults aged 18–64,

by selected demographic and health characteristics: United States, 2008

Length of time since last visit1

More than More than More than More than

6 months, but 1 year, but 2 years, but 5 years,

6 months not more than not more than not more than excluding

Selected characteristic Total or less 1 year ago 2 years ago 5 years ago ‘‘Never’’ Never

Percent distribution2 (standard error)

Total3 .............................. 100.0 42.4 (0.53) 18.0 (0.38) 13.7 (0.33) 12.8 (0.34) 11.7 (0.34) 1.4 (0.12)

Sex

Male............................... 100.0 38.9 (0.72) 17.5 (0.57) 15.1 (0.50) 13.3 (0.49) 13.6 (0.50) 1.6 (0.17)

Female ............................. 100.0 45.9 (0.68) 18.5 (0.49) 12.4 (0.41) 12.2 (0.42) 9.9 (0.40) 1.1 (0.15)

Age in years

18–34 .............................. 100.0 35.6 (0.81) 20.2 (0.68) 16.6 (0.59) 14.6 (0.58) 10.7 (0.50) 2.2 (0.25)

35–44 .............................. 100.0 42.7 (0.99) 18.6 (0.79) 13.3 (0.63) 12.3 (0.59) 11.9 (0.67) 1.3 (0.19)

45–54 .............................. 100.0 48.0 (1.01) 16.2 (0.69) 11.4 (0.60) 12.0 (0.65) 11.8 (0.64) 0.6 (0.14)

55–64 .............................. 100.0 49.0 (1.04) 15.1 (0.72) 11.2 (0.68) 10.5 (0.66) 13.5 (0.69) 0.7 (0.20)

Race/ethnicity4

Hispanic or Latino ...................... 100.0 28.2 (1.07) 17.5 (0.87) 17.1 (0.96) 16.0 (0.82) 16.8 (0.86) 4.5 (0.53)

Non-Hispanic .........................

White, single race ..................... 100.0 47.8 (0.68) 17.4 (0.47) 12.3 (0.39) 11.3 (0.41) 10.7 (0.42) 0.6 (0.10)

Black, single race ..................... 100.0 31.5 (1.19) 21.3 (1.00) 16.2 (0.91) 17.2 (0.98) 12.2 (0.78) 1.6 (0.31)

Asian, single race ..................... 100.0 40.8 (1.88) 19.8 (1.47) 14.9 (1.34) 12.7 (1.27) 9.5 (1.16) 2.3 (0.48)

Nativity5

U.S. born ............................ 100.0 44.3 (0.59) 17.9 (0.41) 13.4 (0.35) 12.3 (0.37) 11.4 (0.37) 0.6 (0.08)

Foreign born .......................... 100.0 33.2 (1.07) 18.5 (0.83) 15.2 (0.87) 14.9 (0.78) 13.1 (0.73) 5.1 (0.52)

Education6

Less than a high school diploma ............. 100.0 23.5 (1.21) 14.3 (0.97) 14.6 (1.04) 18.8 (1.09) 24.9 (1.23) 4.0 (0.54)

High school diploma or GED7 ............... 100.0 35.3 (0.97) 15.8 (0.70) 14.5 (0.66) 15.6 (0.74) 17.8 (0.78) 1.0 (0.18)

Some college ......................... 100.0 43.6 (0.91) 19.7 (0.74) 14.0 (0.62) 12.1 (0.60) 10.0 (0.51) 0.6 (0.14)

Bachelor’s degree or higher ................ 100.0 59.5 (0.87) 18.2 (0.68) 10.2 (0.52) 7.3 (0.45) 4.3 (0.37) 0.5 (0.12)

Poverty status8

Poor ............................... 100.0 25.4 (1.34) 15.9 (0.99) 15.7 (1.00) 17.0 (1.00) 22.5 (1.20) 3.5 (0.52)

Near poor ........................... 100.0 25.7 (1.06) 15.2 (0.81) 16.7 (0.81) 19.5 (0.96) 20.3 (0.99) 2.6 (0.40)

Not poor ............................ 100.0 49.3 (0.62) 19.0 (0.46) 12.7 (0.38) 10.5 (0.37) 7.9 (0.31) 0.7 (0.10)

Health and dental insurance status9

Private health insurance................... 100.0 51.3 (0.62) 19.6 (0.47) 12.3 (0.38) 9.6 (0.35) 6.6 (0.28) 0.5 (0.08)

Dental coverage from single-service plan only.... 100.0 60.4 (1.06) 18.1 (0.82) 10.4 (0.66) 6.5 (0.53) 4.3 (0.47) *0.2 (0.07)

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only . . . 100.0 51.2 (1.03) 20.3 (0.79) 12.6 (0.65) 9.1 (0.59) 6.2 (0.53) 0.7 (0.17)

Dental coverage from both single-service and

comprehensive plans .................. 100.0 53.1 (1.57) 20.1 (1.29) 11.4 (1.02) 9.1 (0.88) 6.0 (0.72) *0.3 (0.16)

No dental insurance .................... 100.0 41.8 (1.18) 20.5 (0.97) 14.2 (0.76) 13.5 (0.85) 9.3 (0.68) 0.7 (0.18)

Medicaid10 ........................... 100.0 30.3 (1.55) 15.4 (1.08) 14.6 (1.09) 17.3 (1.16) 20.8 (1.33) 1.5 (0.34)

Other coverage ........................ 100.0 37.3 (2.13) 15.6 (1.55) 16.0 (1.63) 13.4 (1.50) 17.3 (1.67) †

Uninsured ........................... 100.0 17.9 (0.84) 13.9 (0.69) 18.0 (0.91) 21.5 (0.94) 24.4 (1.00) 4.5 (0.47)

Region

Northeast............................ 100.0 48.7 (1.37) 19.6 (0.99) 10.7 (0.75) 10.7 (0.83) 9.2 (0.73) 1.1 (0.21)

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 45.4 (1.09) 17.9 (0.85) 14.0 (0.64) 10.9 (0.62) 11.2 (0.79) 0.6 (0.11)

South .............................. 100.0 37.7 (0.84) 17.5 (0.58) 14.1 (0.58) 15.2 (0.61) 13.7 (0.56) 1.7 (0.20)

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 42.1 (1.05) 17.7 (0.72) 14.9 (0.67) 12.5 (0.63) 10.9 (0.61) 2.0 (0.34)

Place of residence

Urban .............................. 100.0 42.7 (0.59) 18.2 (0.42) 14.0 (0.37) 12.7 (0.36) 10.9 (0.34) 1.5 (0.13)

Rural .............................. 100.0 41.2 (1.21) 17.4 (0.85) 12.7 (0.67) 13.1 (0.77) 14.8 (0.95) 1.0 (0.26)

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 10 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 3. Percent distributions of length of time since last visit with a dentist or other dental health professional among adults aged 18–64,

by selected demographic and health characteristics: United States, 2008—Con.

Length of time since last visit1

More than More than More than More than

6 months, but 1 year, but 2 years, but 5 years,

6 months not more than not more than not more than excluding

Selected characteristic Total or less 1 year ago 2 years ago 5 years ago ‘‘Never’’ Never

Dentition status Percent distribution2 (standard error)

Edentulous11.......................... 100.0 24.8 (1.85) 12.0 (1.34) 11.9 (1.32) 16.7 (1.48) 32.9 (1.98) 1.6 (0.42)

Dentate ............................. 100.0 43.4 (0.54) 18.3 (0.39) 13.8 (0.34) 12.6 (0.34) 10.6 (0.32) 1.4 (0.12)

Current smoking status12

Current smoker ........................ 100.0 32.9 (0.93) 15.8 (0.72) 14.1 (0.66) 16.9 (0.77) 19.3 (0.80) 1.1 (0.18)

Former smoker ........................ 100.0 47.6 (1.11) 16.6 (0.80) 13.2 (0.73) 11.3 (0.70) 10.8 (0.69) 0.6 (0.16)

Never smoker ......................... 100.0 44.6 (0.67) 19.3 (0.52) 13.8 (0.43) 11.6 (0.39) 9.1 (0.35) 1.7 (0.17)

Current drinking status13

Lifetime abstainer....................... 100.0 36.0 (1.10) 19.3 (0.84) 15.4 (0.83) 13.9 (0.79) 11.9 (0.67) 3.5 (0.42)

Former drinker ........................ 100.0 36.3 (1.33) 15.1 (0.94) 14.7 (0.90) 15.1 (0.95) 18.2 (1.03) *0.6 (0.21)

Current light or infrequent drinker ............. 100.0 45.8 (0.72) 18.9 (0.53) 13.1 (0.49) 11.8 (0.46) 9.6 (0.43) 0.8 (0.11)

Current moderate or heavier drinker ........... 100.0 44.7 (1.06) 16.6 (0.78) 12.9 (0.68) 12.3 (0.68) 12.4 (0.74) 1.0 (0.20)

Diabetes status14

Yes ............................... 100.0 40.0 (1.81) 12.9 (1.24) 12.7 (1.20) 14.7 (1.34) 18.8 (1.29) *1.0 (0.38)

No ................................ 100.0 42.6 (0.54) 18.3 (0.38) 13.8 (0.34) 12.6 (0.34) 11.2 (0.34) 1.4 (0.12)

* Estimate has a relative standard error of greater than 30% and less than or equal to 50% and should be used with caution as it does not meet standards of reliability or precision.

† Estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is not shown.

1

Based on the question: ‘‘About how long has it been since you last saw a dentist? Include all types of dentists, such as orthodontists, oral surgeons, and all other dental specalists, as well as dental
 

hygienists.’’
 

2

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages. Percentages may not add to totals due to rounding.
 

3

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current
 

drinking status, and diabetes status.
 

4

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple races are not shown
 

separately due to small sample sizes.
 

5

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
 

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as people living in the United States who were not
 

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

6

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

7

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

8

Based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’
 

persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the different income
 

questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

9

Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category
 

in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category ‘‘private
 

health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance, Medicare,
 

Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as uninsured
 

if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by ‘‘Medicaid’’
 

or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and types of dental
 

insurance coverage.
 

10Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

11Refers to persons who have lost all of their upper and lower natural teeth.
 

12A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

13A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12
 

drinks in past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12
 

drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

14Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 11

Table 4. Percentages of adults aged 18–64 who had problems with mouth in the past 6 months, by selected demographic and health

characteristics: United States, 2008

Problem with mouth1

Selected characteristic Bad breath Dry mouth

Difficulty

eating or

chewing Jaw pain Mouth sores

Percent2 (standard error)

Total3 ................................... 9.8 (0.31) 9.7 (0.29) 8.0 (0.27) 7.2 (0.26) 5.4 (0.23)

Sex

Male ...................................

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10.4 (0.44)

9.2 (0.38)

8.4 (0.39)

11.0 (0.41)

7.5 (0.37)

8.5 (0.36)

5.6 (0.33)

8.7 (0.39)

5.1 (0.31)

5.7 (0.31)

Age in years

18–34...................................

35–44...................................

45–54...................................

55–64...................................

8.4 (0.49)

10.6 (0.62)

10.6 (0.61)

10.6 (0.64)

7.2 (0.42)

8.8 (0.55)

11.8 (0.63)

13.3 (0.71)

7.0 (0.42)

8.0 (0.57)

8.9 (0.56)

9.1 (0.59)

8.1 (0.47)

6.5 (0.47)

7.0 (0.53)

6.4 (0.51)

6.1 (0.41)

4.6 (0.41)

5.9 (0.47)

4.4 (0.42)

Race/ethnicity4

Hispanic or Latino ...........................

Non-Hispanic ..............................

White, single race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Black, single race ..........................

Asian, single race .........................

9.7 (0.68)

10.5 (0.41)

7.9 (0.57)

5.7 (0.87)

9.1 (0.63)

10.2 (0.37)

9.1 (0.68)

5.9 (0.97)

7.7 (0.59)

8.1 (0.34)

8.4 (0.68)

5.3 (0.88)

6.1 (0.56)

7.8 (0.35)

6.2 (0.60)

3.8 (0.81)

4.8 (0.48)

6.0 (0.30)

2.4 (0.39)

6.3 (0.93)

Nativity5

U.S. born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Foreign born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10.3 (0.35)

7.0 (0.53)

10.2 (0.33)

7.1 (0.53)

8.3 (0.30)

6.5 (0.55)

7.7 (0.30)

4.5 (0.47)

5.6 (0.26)

4.5 (0.44)

Education6

Less than a high school diploma ..................

High school diploma or GED7 ....................

Some college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bachelor’s degree or higher .....................

15.1 (0.98)

12.0 (0.63)

9.9 (0.56)

6.7 (0.43)

16.0 (1.03)

11.8 (0.62)

10.9 (0.59)

6.3 (0.44)

13.8 (0.90)

9.5 (0.56)

8.9 (0.53)

4.6 (0.38)

8.7 (0.76)

7.3 (0.53)

8.1 (0.49)

5.3 (0.41)

6.0 (0.67)

4.3 (0.42)

5.8 (0.45)

5.0 (0.39)

Poverty status8

Poor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Near poor ................................

Not poor .................................

13.8 (0.95)

13.3 (0.80)

8.3 (0.34)

16.4 (0.96)

13.1 (0.77)

7.8 (0.31)

14.6 (0.93)

11.6 (0.70)

6.0 (0.29)

11.5 (0.84)

9.1 (0.72)

6.0 (0.29)

7.1 (0.65)

5.7 (0.54)

5.0 (0.28)

Health and dental insurance status9

Private health insurance .......................

Dental coverage from single-service plan only ........

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only .......

Dental coverage from both single-service and

comprehensive plans .......................

No dental insurance.........................

Medicaid10 ................................

Other coverage .............................

Uninsured ................................

8.0 (0.34)

8.5 (0.63)

6.6 (0.50)

8.8 (0.91)

8.6 (0.68)

15.8 (1.19)

15.9 (1.66)

12.2 (0.72)

7.5 (0.31)

7.6 (0.58)

7.0 (0.54)

7.4 (0.76)

7.9 (0.59)

19.2 (1.27)

20.4 (1.75)

11.4 (0.64)

5.6 (0.28)

6.2 (0.52)

5.2 (0.52)

5.4 (0.67)

5.8 (0.53)

16.9 (1.12)

16.8 (1.70)

10.9 (0.62)

6.0 (0.29)

7.7 (0.66)

5.2 (0.48)

5.0 (0.61)

5.6 (0.57)

10.7 (1.00)

11.4 (1.53)

9.0 (0.66)

5.0 (0.29)

5.4 (0.52)

4.3 (0.45)

4.9 (0.69)

5.4 (0.60)

6.0 (0.74)

6.1 (1.13)

6.3 (0.53)

Region

Northeast ................................

Midwest .................................

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

West ...................................

8.9 (0.65)

9.8 (0.65)

9.7 (0.53)

10.5 (0.63)

9.1 (0.63)

9.3 (0.62)

9.5 (0.48)

11.0 (0.59)

7.7 (0.66)

7.8 (0.57)

7.8 (0.41)

8.8 (0.60)

6.6 (0.59)

7.3 (0.58)

7.4 (0.45)

7.2 (0.51)

5.6 (0.69)

5.1 (0.48)

5.2 (0.36)

5.8 (0.46)

Place of residence

Urban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9.3 (0.33)

11.5 (0.79)

9.6 (0.31)

10.2 (0.65)

7.8 (0.29)

9.0 (0.62)

7.0 (0.28)

7.8 (0.63)

5.4 (0.25)

5.6 (0.57)

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 12 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 4. Percentages of adults aged 18–64 who had problems with mouth in the past 6 months, by selected demographic and health

characteristics: United States, 2008—Con.

Problem with mouth1

Difficulty

eating or

Selected characteristic Bad breath Dry mouth chewing Jaw pain Mouth sores

Dentition status Percent2 (standard error)

Edentulous11 .............................. 9.5 (1.31) 17.2 (1.55) 12.8 (1.38) 8.1 (1.21) 8.7 (1.53)

Dentate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8 (0.32) 9.3 (0.29) 7.8 (0.27) 7.1 (0.27) 5.2 (0.22)

Current smoking status12

Current smoker ............................. 15.0 (0.73) 15.5 (0.70) 14.0 (0.66) 10.4 (0.59) 5.7 (0.52)

Former smoker ............................. 10.0 (0.68) 10.9 (0.68) 8.3 (0.60) 7.8 (0.60) 5.5 (0.47)

Never smoker.............................. 7.7 (0.34) 7.2 (0.31) 5.6 (0.31) 5.8 (0.33) 5.3 (0.30)

Current drinking status13

Lifetime abstainer ........................... 6.7 (0.50) 7.3 (0.55) 6.9 (0.54) 6.1 (0.54) 5.0 (0.55)

Former drinker ............................. 13.9 (0.94) 17.1 (0.99) 12.9 (0.89) 9.1 (0.80) 6.5 (0.70)

Current light or infrequent drinker.................. 9.8 (0.45) 9.4 (0.41) 7.5 (0.40) 7.5 (0.39) 5.4 (0.31)

Current moderate or heavier drinker ................ 10.5 (0.64) 8.8 (0.60) 7.7 (0.56) 6.7 (0.50) 5.4 (0.48)

Diabetes status14

Yes .................................... 14.9 (1.28) 24.0 (1.65) 14.0 (1.24) 8.9 (1.03) 7.6 (1.00)

No ..................................... 9.4 (0.32) 8.8 (0.29) 7.6 (0.27) 7.1 (0.27) 5.3 (0.24)

1

Based on the questions: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 6 MONTHS, have you had any of the following problems that lasted more than a day? . . .Pain in your jaw joint,. . .Sores in your mouth, . . .Difficulty

eating or chewing, . . .Bad breath, . . .Dry mouth.’’

2

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.

3

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current

drinking status, and diabetes status.

4

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple race are not shown

separately due to small sample sizes.

5

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as persons living in the United States who were not

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

6

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

7

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

8

Poverty status is based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty
 

threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’ persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the
 

different income questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

9

Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category
 

in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category ‘‘private
 

health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance, Medicare,
 

Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as uninsured
 

if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by ‘‘Medicaid’’
 

or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and types of dental
 

insurance coverage.
 

10Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

11Refers to persons who have lost all of their upper and lower natural teeth.
 

12A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

13A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in
 

past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime,
 

at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

14Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 13

Table 5. Percentages of dentate adults aged 18–64 who had problems with teeth in the past 6 months, by selected demographic and health

characteristics: United States, 2008

Problem with teeth1

Toothache Loose teeth

or sensitive Stained or Broken or Crooked Bleeding Broken or not due

Selected characteristic teeth discolored teeth missing teeth teeth gums missing fillings to injury

Percent2 (standard error)

Total3 ................................... 26.2 (0.45) 20.5 (0.45) 16.9 (0.40) 13.6 (0.35) 12.1 (0.34) 11.8 (0.32) 4.0 (0.19)

Sex

Male ................................... 23.9 (0.65) 20.2 (0.61) 17.6 (0.60) 13.7 (0.50) 11.2 (0.47) 11.9 (0.47) 4.1 (0.28)

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.4 (0.62) 20.8 (0.59) 16.2 (0.52) 13.6 (0.46) 12.9 (0.46) 11.8 (0.42) 3.9 (0.27)

Age in years

18–34................................... 27.4 (0.79) 16.9 (0.65) 12.3 (0.57) 13.7 (0.60) 13.4 (0.58) 9.1 (0.48) 2.2 (0.23)

35–44................................... 26.7 (0.87) 21.0 (0.83) 16.5 (0.77) 13.4 (0.67) 12.5 (0.65) 13.3 (0.70) 4.1 (0.45)

45–54................................... 26.0 (0.89) 24.8 (0.90) 21.2 (0.85) 14.1 (0.72) 11.5 (0.67) 14.2 (0.68) 5.6 (0.46)

55–64................................... 22.9 (0.93) 21.9 (0.89) 21.8 (0.88) 13.1 (0.74) 9.3 (0.63) 12.8 (0.70) 5.7 (0.48)

Race/ethnicity4

Hispanic or Latino ........................... 22.0 (0.95) 15.9 (0.87) 16.0 (0.80) 13.3 (0.77) 14.1 (0.81) 10.6 (0.69) 4.5 (0.53)

Non-Hispanic ..............................

White, single race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.6 (0.59) 23.1 (0.57) 17.1 (0.51) 14.4 (0.45) 11.6 (0.42) 12.4 (0.42) 3.9 (0.25)

Black, single race .......................... 26.2 (1.11) 15.4 (0.92) 19.7 (1.05) 11.8 (0.83) 12.9 (0.92) 12.4 (0.77) 4.5 (0.47)

Asian, single race ......................... 20.0 (1.52) 11.8 (1.23) 9.7 (1.16) 8.9 (1.09) 9.4 (1.00) 6.9 (0.79) 2.5 (0.49)

Nativity5

U.S. born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.3 (0.51) 22.2 (0.50) 17.6 (0.45) 14.5 (0.40) 12.0 (0.38) 12.4 (0.36) 4.1 (0.21)

Foreign born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.6 (0.90) 12.3 (0.76) 13.3 (0.73) 9.4 (0.66) 12.3 (0.72) 9.4 (0.66) 3.6 (0.44)

Education6

Less than a high school diploma .................. 29.1 (1.29) 27.3 (1.36) 28.2 (1.32) 17.6 (1.13) 14.9 (1.01) 15.3 (1.01) 8.6 (0.75)

High school diploma or GED7 .................... 28.3 (0.91) 25.8 (0.96) 23.7 (0.93) 16.0 (0.71) 12.5 (0.72) 14.5 (0.76) 6.5 (0.51)

Some college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.3 (0.80) 22.8 (0.76) 18.6 (0.70) 14.1 (0.64) 12.7 (0.61) 13.7 (0.65) 3.9 (0.37)

Bachelor’s degree or higher ..................... 22.2 (0.77) 15.2 (0.65) 9.8 (0.53) 10.3 (0.55) 9.7 (0.54) 9.8 (0.52) 2.0 (0.26)

Poverty status8

Poor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.7 (1.29) 25.6 (1.35) 25.6 (1.31) 17.5 (1.03) 16.4 (0.99) 16.8 (1.06) 7.2 (0.63)

Near poor ................................ 31.3 (1.15) 25.7 (1.12) 24.2 (1.08) 16.7 (0.90) 15.1 (0.84) 15.5 (0.86) 6.6 (0.60)

Not poor ................................. 24.0 (0.50) 18.5 (0.48) 13.8 (0.43) 12.3 (0.40) 10.7 (0.37) 10.2 (0.35) 2.9 (0.20)

Health and dental insurance status9

Private health insurance ....................... 23.2 (0.52) 17.6 (0.48) 13.0 (0.44) 12.2 (0.41) 10.2 (0.36) 10.0 (0.38) 2.7 (0.20)

Dental coverage from single-service plan only ........ 27.0 (1.06) 20.7 (0.97) 13.0 (0.77) 14.0 (0.76) 11.8 (0.75) 10.6 (0.67) 2.5 (0.32)

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only ....... 21.0 (0.94) 15.7 (0.77) 13.2 (0.83) 10.8 (0.74) 9.5 (0.62) 10.0 (0.76) 2.8 (0.38)

Dental coverage from both single-service and

comprehensive plans ....................... 22.6 (1.31) 17.5 (1.17) 12.0 (0.99) 13.1 (1.18) 8.9 (0.85) 10.6 (0.97) 2.6 (0.54)

No dental insurance......................... 22.7 (0.95) 16.8 (0.87) 13.6 (0.82) 11.3 (0.72) 10.0 (0.71) 9.5 (0.67) 2.9 (0.40)

Medicaid10 ................................ 37.2 (1.71) 31.3 (1.75) 30.4 (1.61) 19.0 (1.35) 17.3 (1.20) 18.5 (1.30) 9.1 (0.92)

Other coverage ............................. 34.0 (2.23) 29.5 (2.19) 26.5 (2.09) 18.4 (1.75) 14.0 (1.76) 17.0 (1.71) 8.8 (1.24)

Uninsured ................................ 30.5 (0.95) 24.7 (1.08) 23.2 (0.91) 16.0 (0.79) 16.1 (0.89) 14.6 (0.73) 5.9 (0.52)

Region

Northeast ................................ 25.8 (1.17) 17.8 (1.00) 16.1 (0.90) 11.7 (0.80) 11.0 (0.76) 12.5 (0.78) 3.6 (0.42)

Midwest ................................. 28.4 (0.99) 21.5 (0.93) 16.1 (0.82) 13.4 (0.80) 10.6 (0.69) 11.4 (0.78) 3.8 (0.43)

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.4 (0.73) 22.3 (0.80) 18.6 (0.72) 14.3 (0.56) 12.7 (0.61) 11.8 (0.49) 4.2 (0.29)

West ................................... 25.5 (0.84) 18.7 (0.85) 15.6 (0.76) 14.2 (0.69) 13.4 (0.66) 11.8 (0.61) 4.3 (0.41)

Place of residence

Urban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.8 (0.49) 19.0 (0.46) 15.8 (0.44) 13.1 (0.38) 12.2 (0.37) 11.5 (0.36) 3.9 (0.21)

Rural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.7 (1.12) 26.5 (1.11) 21.1 (0.95) 15.6 (0.81) 11.3 (0.76) 13.3 (0.69) 4.5 (0.41)

Current smoking status11

Current smoker ............................. 36.5 (1.01) 37.8 (1.04) 28.9 (0.95) 18.6 (0.80) 13.9 (0.75) 17.8 (0.78) 8.2 (0.55)

Former smoker ............................. 28.2 (1.02) 21.3 (0.93) 18.7 (0.89) 15.0 (0.79) 13.2 (0.75) 13.7 (0.78) 3.9 (0.41)

Never smoker.............................. 21.9 (0.54) 14.1 (0.46) 12.1 (0.41) 11.4 (0.41) 11.0 (0.41) 9.1 (0.35) 2.5 (0.20)

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 14 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 5. Percentages of dentate adults aged 18–64 who had problems with teeth in the past 6 months, by selected demographic and

health characteristics: United States, 2008—Con.

Problem with teeth1

Toothache Loose teeth

or sensitive Stained or Broken or Crooked Bleeding Broken or not due

Selected characteristic teeth discolored teeth missing teeth teeth gums missing fillings to injury

Current drinking status12 Percent2 (standard error)
 

Lifetime abstainer ........................... 20.3 (0.92) 13.0 (0.77) 13.3 (0.77) 10.5 (0.69) 10.1 (0.68) 8.0 (0.56) 2.9 (0.36) 
 

Former drinker ............................. 33.2 (1.31) 27.2 (1.25) 26.2 (1.21) 16.0 (0.97) 15.4 (1.03) 15.5 (1.01) 6.3 (0.64) 
 

Current light or infrequent drinker.................. 26.6 (0.67) 21.1 (0.60) 15.4 (0.55) 14.3 (0.50) 12.1 (0.46) 11.9 (0.48) 3.7 (0.27) 
 

Current moderate or heavier drinker ................ 27.6 (0.98) 23.1 (0.92) 18.6 (0.83) 14.2 (0.74) 12.3 (0.67) 13.4 (0.68) 4.5 (0.43) 
 

Diabetes status13

Yes .................................... 32.3 (1.78) 29.4 (1.73) 30.3 (1.86) 16.2 (1.48) 17.5 (1.42) 16.5 (1.56) 9.8 (1.12) 
 

No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.8 (0.47) 20.0 (0.46) 16.1 (0.41) 13.5 (0.36) 11.7 (0.35) 11.5 (0.33) 3.7 (0.19) 
 

1

Based on the following questions asked of dentate adults: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 6 MONTHS, have you had any of the following problems? . . .A toothache or sensitive teeth,. . .Bleeding gums,
 

. . .Crooked teeth, . . .Broken or missing teeth, . . .Stained or discolored teeth, . . .Loose teeth not due to an injury, . . .Broken or missing fillings.’’
 

2

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.
 

3

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current
 

drinking status, and diabetes status.
 

4

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple race are not shown
 

separately due to small sample sizes.
 

5

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
 

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as people living in the United States who were not
 

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

6

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

7

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

8

Based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’
 

persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the different income
 

questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

9

Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category
 

in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category ‘‘private
 

health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance, Medicare,
 

Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as uninsured
 

if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by ‘‘Medicaid’’
 

or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and types of dental
 

insurance coverage.
 

10Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

11A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

12A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in
 

past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime,
 

at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

13Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 15

Table 6. Percentages of adults aged 18–64 with a mouth or tooth problem who did not see a dentist or other dental health professional in

the past 6 months, by reason and by selected demographic and health characteristics: United States, 2008

Reason for not seeing a dentist1

Could not Didn’t think Didn’t think

afford/no problem was Problem dentist could Waiting for No

Selected characteristic insurance important went away Fear fix problem an appointment transportation

Percent2 (standard error)

Total3 ................................... 41.7 (0.89) 25.9 (0.79) 25.4 (0.85) 9.7 (0.50) 6.1 (0.39) 4.0 (0.34) 2.8 (0.27) 
 

Sex

Male ................................... 39.9 (1.28) 29.0 (1.20) 26.5 (1.13) 9.3 (0.74) 5.2 (0.51) 3.2 (0.45) 2.3 (0.37) 
 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.3 (1.12) 23.0 (0.96) 24.3 (1.12) 10.1 (0.66) 7.0 (0.58) 4.8 (0.46) 3.2 (0.41) 
 

Age in years

18–34................................... 43.1 (1.48) 27.6 (1.33) 30.2 (1.39) 9.6 (0.81) 4.5 (0.55) 3.8 (0.59) 3.4 (0.59) 
 

35–44................................... 41.8 (1.67) 25.3 (1.54) 22.1 (1.45) 10.8 (1.04) 6.5 (0.82) 4.1 (0.65) 2.0 (0.44) 
 

45–54................................... 44.4 (1.81) 25.6 (1.50) 22.6 (1.47) 9.4 (1.05) 7.1 (0.86) 4.1 (0.60) 2.2 (0.41) 
 

55–64................................... 34.0 (1.86) 23.2 (1.66) 22.3 (1.65) 8.9 (1.07) 8.2 (0.95) 4.2 (0.73) 3.1 (0.64) 
 

Race/ethnicity4

Hispanic or Latino ........................... 55.7 (2.10) 21.4 (1.57) 22.0 (1.66) 11.7 (1.13) 5.7 (0.85) 3.6 (0.61) 3.6 (0.64) 
 

Non-Hispanic .............................. 
 

White, single race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.5 (1.07) 28.4 (1.05) 25.9 (1.10) 9.1 (0.63) 6.6 (0.50) 3.9 (0.43) 2.0 (0.31) 
 

Black, single race .......................... 44.5 (2.07) 18.7 (1.68) 22.7 (1.88) 12.3 (1.33) 4.9 (0.90) 5.2 (0.86) 5.2 (0.91) 
 

Asian, single race ......................... 28.1 (3.30) 28.9 (3.41) 37.5 (3.58) 6.8 (1.66) *4.7 (1.45) 4.2 (1.17) † 
 

Nativity5

U.S. born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.8 (0.94) 26.6 (0.86) 25.7 (0.95) 9.7 (0.56) 6.3 (0.43) 4.0 (0.38) 2.7 (0.30) 
 

Foreign born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.6 (2.15) 21.6 (1.62) 23.5 (1.73) 9.6 (1.11) 5.4 (0.92) 4.3 (0.77) 3.0 (0.57) 
 

Education6

Less than a high school diploma .................. 58.4 (2.10) 18.1 (1.72) 20.2 (1.86) 13.0 (1.31) 3.6 (0.69) 3.9 (0.71) 5.6 (0.89) 
 

High school diploma or GED7 .................... 47.7 (1.65) 23.6 (1.47) 20.2 (1.35) 13.1 (1.11) 6.3 (0.81) 2.6 (0.43) 2.4 (0.46) 
 

Some college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.8 (1.56) 24.2 (1.34) 23.7 (1.41) 7.1 (0.75) 6.8 (0.74) 4.6 (0.64) 1.7 (0.34) 
 

Bachelor’s degree or higher ..................... 23.4 (1.47) 33.1 (1.74) 30.7 (1.73) 7.3 (0.93) 8.0 (0.96) 4.6 (0.76) † 
 

Poverty status8

Poor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.7 (2.20) 17.8 (1.61) 19.3 (1.45) 11.1 (1.11) 5.7 (0.91) 4.3 (0.66) 8.5 (1.10) 
 

Near poor ................................ 59.6 (1.72) 19.1 (1.43) 20.8 (1.42) 10.1 (1.04) 5.5 (0.81) 3.4 (0.66) 4.0 (0.85) 
 

Not poor ................................. 31.0 (1.02) 30.3 (1.09) 28.4 (1.14) 9.2 (0.63) 6.5 (0.50) 4.2 (0.47) 0.8 (0.20) 
 

Health and dental insurance status9

Private health insurance ....................... 24.1 (0.96) 31.9 (1.12) 29.0 (1.15) 9.7 (0.68) 7.4 (0.56) 4.7 (0.51) 0.7 (0.18) 
 

Dental coverage from single-service plan only ........ 17.6 (1.64) 37.7 (2.18) 31.7 (2.17) 9.8 (1.30) 9.3 (1.22) 3.8 (0.76) † 
 

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only ....... 18.2 (1.56) 30.2 (1.88) 28.3 (1.91) 9.9 (1.31) 7.0 (0.97) 6.8 (1.23) *0.5 (0.21) 
 

Dental coverage from both single-service and

comprehensive plans ....................... 18.4 (2.32) 30.6 (2.82) 28.3 (2.80) 9.9 (1.82) 6.4 (1.52) 4.9 (1.34) † 
 

No dental insurance......................... 40.1 (2.20) 27.8 (2.09) 27.3 (1.97) 9.0 (1.22) 6.8 (0.95) 3.1 (0.68) *0.9 (0.44) 
 

Medicaid10 ................................ 47.6 (2.42) 17.7 (1.91) 20.9 (2.10) 16.4 (1.82) 8.7 (1.49) 6.9 (1.17) 10.3 (1.54) 
 

Other coverage ............................. 49.8 (3.49) 19.3 (2.81) 26.9 (3.43) 7.0 (1.69) 7.1 (1.74) *3.0 (1.26) *3.1 (0.96) 
 

Uninsured ................................ 75.5 (1.37) 16.7 (1.24) 18.9 (1.34) 7.7 (0.74) 2.4 (0.41) 1.8 (0.39) 4.1 (0.69) 
 

Region

Northeast ................................ 33.6 (2.06) 27.2 (2.46) 24.8 (2.19) 10.1 (1.29) 5.9 (1.04) 3.8 (0.86) 3.4 (0.71) 
 

Midwest ................................. 35.6 (1.76) 31.1 (1.81) 32.5 (1.84) 8.0 (0.94) 7.5 (0.86) 4.1 (0.72) 2.0 (0.50) 
 

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.1 (1.55) 21.0 (1.13) 21.1 (1.28) 10.1 (0.77) 4.7 (0.58) 3.6 (0.42) 3.3 (0.52) 
 

West ................................... 43.0 (1.72) 27.4 (1.41) 24.8 (1.72) 10.7 (1.17) 7.1 (0.85) 4.8 (0.90) 2.4 (0.44) 
 

Place of residence

Urban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.5 (1.02) 25.7 (0.87) 26.6 (0.95) 10.3 (0.58) 6.2 (0.44) 4.2 (0.39) 2.9 (0.34) 
 

Rural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.1 (1.76) 26.7 (1.92) 20.9 (1.68) 7.8 (0.95) 5.9 (0.86) 3.5 (0.61) 2.3 (0.53) 
 

Dentition status

Edentulous11 .............................. 39.8 (4.48) 17.9 (4.50) 28.2 (4.93) *4.9 (1.52) 11.8 (2.32) *2.6 (1.24) *3.3 (1.23) 
 

Dentate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.7 (0.91) 26.2 (0.79) 25.2 (0.85) 9.9 (0.51) 5.9 (0.39) 4.1 (0.35) 2.7 (0.28) 
 

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 16 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 6. Percentages of adults aged 18–64 with a mouth or tooth problem who did not see a dentist or other dental health professional

in the past 6 months, by reason and by selected demographic and health characteristics: United States, 2008—Con.

Reason for not seeing a dentist1

Could not Didn’t think Didn’t think

afford/no problem was Problem dentist could Waiting for No

Selected characteristic insurance important went away Fear fix problem an appointment transportation

Current smoking status12 Percent2 (standard error)

Current smoker ............................. 55.5 (1.60) 22.1 (1.35) 19.8 (1.28) 10.5 (0.84) 5.6 (0.65) 3.6 (0.63) 4.3 (0.64)

Former smoker ............................. 36.4 (1.79) 27.0 (1.64) 23.0 (1.59) 9.0 (1.13) 8.1 (1.01) 4.7 (0.79) 1.7 (0.43)

Never smoker.............................. 34.9 (1.12) 27.9 (1.09) 29.7 (1.20) 9.5 (0.69) 5.7 (0.53) 4.0 (0.43) 2.2 (0.35)

Current drinking status13
 

Lifetime abstainer ........................... 43.8 (1.97) 22.2 (1.93) 25.1 (2.03) 8.1 (1.09) 5.5 (0.95) 6.3 (1.15) 4.0 (0.80) 
 

Former drinker ............................. 49.1 (2.28) 20.0 (1.73) 18.0 (1.71) 12.9 (1.33) 7.2 (1.05) 3.3 (0.66) 3.9 (0.73) 
 

Current light or infrequent drinker.................. 39.5 (1.26) 26.8 (1.14) 25.7 (1.15) 9.9 (0.75) 7.0 (0.63) 3.7 (0.45) 1.7 (0.30) 
 

Current moderate or heavier drinker ................ 39.8 (1.66) 30.6 (1.66) 29.1 (1.63) 8.5 (0.97) 4.4 (0.61) 3.6 (0.62) 3.0 (0.66) 
 

Diabetes status14

Yes .................................... 48.3 (2.96) 18.7 (2.31) 19.2 (2.27) 11.2 (1.55) 8.5 (1.47) 3.4 (0.91) 5.2 (1.14) 
 

No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.1 (0.91) 26.5 (0.82) 25.9 (0.89) 9.6 (0.53) 5.9 (0.41) 4.1 (0.36) 2.6 (0.28) 
 

* Estimate has a relative standard error of greater than 30% and less than or equal to 50% and should be used with caution as it does not meet standards of reliability or precision.
 

† Estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is not shown.
 

1

Based on the questions: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 6 MONTHS, why didn’t you see a dentist for the problems with your mouth or teeth? . . .You didn’t think it was important, . . .The problem went away,
 

. . .You couldn’t afford treatments or you didn’t have insurance, . . .You didn’t have transportation, . . .You were afraid to see a dentist, . . .You were waiting for an appointment.’’ These questions were

asked only of adults who indicated that they had a mouth or tooth problem as shown in Tables 4 and 5.

2

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.

3

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current

drinking status, and diabetes status.

4

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple race are not shown

separately due to small sample sizes.

5

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as people living in the United States who were not
 

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

6

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

7

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

8

Based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’
 

persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the different income
 

questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

9

Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate category
 

in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category ‘‘private
 

health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance, Medicare,
 

Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as uninsured
 

if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by ‘‘Medicaid’’
 

or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and types of dental
 

insurance coverage.
 

10Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

11Refers to persons who have lost all of their upper and lower natural teeth.
 

12A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

13A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in
 

past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime,
 

at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

14Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 17

Table 7. Percentages of dentate adults aged 18–64 who had an unmet dental need due to cost in the past 12 months, dentate adults with no

mouth or teeth problems, with one or more mouth or teeth problems, and with toothache as a problem, by selected demographic and

health characteristics: United States, 2008

Unmet dental need due to cost1

Selected characteristic

All dentate

adults

Dentate adults

with no

mouth or

teeth problems2

Dentate adults

with one or

more mouth

or teeth problems2

Dentate adults

with toothache

as a problem2

Percent3 (standard error)

Total4

............................................. 16.1 (0.39) 6.8 (0.37) 25.3 (0.64) 32.7 (0.96)

Sex

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Female ...........................................

14.0 (0.52)

18.0 (0.52)

6.0 (0.50)

7.6 (0.49)

22.6 (0.85)

27.8 (0.86)

30.1 (1.35)

34.9 (1.30)

Age in years

18–34 ............................................

35–44 ............................................

45–54 ............................................

55–64 ............................................

17.4 (0.65)

15.4 (0.71)

16.7 (0.76)

13.1 (0.76)

7.3 (0.60)

7.2 (0.74)

5.9 (0.66)

6.4 (0.80)

28.4 (1.07)

23.5 (1.16)

26.5 (1.24)

19.5 (1.21)

35.7 (1.49)

29.6 (1.76)

35.1 (2.00)

25.9 (1.93)

Race/ethnicity5

Hispanic or Latino .....................................

Non-Hispanic ........................................

White, single race ...................................

Black, single race....................................

Asian, single race ...................................

20.9 (1.10)

15.0 (0.48)

18.2 (0.94)

8.9 (1.04)

12.0 (1.25)

5.4 (0.40)

8.8 (0.97)

4.3 (0.98)

31.1 (1.60)

24.0 (0.78)

28.4 (1.60)

15.6 (2.04)

39.3 (2.45)

31.6 (1.20)

34.1 (2.33)

20.9 (3.33)

Nativity6

U.S. born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16.0 (0.43)

16.5 (0.96)

6.1 (0.37)

9.5 (1.02)

25.2 (0.71)

26.0 (1.50)

33.0 (1.05)

30.8 (2.23)

Education7

Less than a high school diploma ............................

High school diploma or GED8

..............................

Some college. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bachelor’s degree or higher...............................

24.9 (1.27)

20.0 (0.82)

18.2 (0.76)

9.3 (0.53)

11.7 (1.48)

8.1 (0.75)

7.8 (0.72)

4.4 (0.53)

35.7 (1.78)

30.3 (1.30)

28.1 (1.21)

15.1 (0.94)

44.1 (2.69)

38.9 (1.95)

35.6 (1.74)

20.8 (1.59)

Poverty status9

Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Near poor ..........................................

Not poor...........................................

27.9 (1.38)

28.4 (1.21)

11.3 (0.39)

11.8 (1.36)

13.2 (1.33)

4.9 (0.37)

40.6 (1.89)

40.3 (1.61)

18.4 (0.69)

50.5 (2.65)

48.1 (2.25)

24.2 (1.10)

Health and dental insurance status10

Private health insurance .................................

Dental coverage from single-service plan only ..................

Dental coverage from comprehensive plan only .................

Dental coverage from both single-service and comprehensive plans ....

No dental insurance ..................................

Medicaid11 .........................................

Other coverage ......................................

Uninsured ..........................................

8.9 (0.33)

7.9 (0.59)

6.9 (0.55)

7.0 (0.75)

13.9 (0.84)

23.2 (1.41)

23.6 (2.06)

36.8 (1.15)

3.5 (0.29)

2.5 (0.47)

2.6 (0.38)

2.7 (0.68)

6.3 (0.78)

9.5 (1.46)

8.2 (2.03)

18.9 (1.36)

14.9 (0.62)

12.9 (1.02)

12.5 (1.15)

11.9 (1.39)

22.7 (1.44)

32.5 (2.07)

33.7 (2.98)

51.8 (1.44)

19.5 (1.00)

17.1 (1.65)

16.4 (1.91)

17.1 (2.33)

28.4 (2.20)

42.0 (2.81)

42.2 (4.27)

61.7 (1.86)

Region

Northeast ..........................................

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

South ............................................

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12.1 (0.73)

15.1 (0.86)

18.0 (0.72)

17.0 (0.76)

5.0 (0.65)

6.5 (0.72)

7.6 (0.66)

7.2 (0.80)

19.7 (1.27)

22.8 (1.39)

28.5 (1.09)

27.1 (1.30)

25.3 (2.02)

30.3 (2.10)

36.3 (1.57)

35.4 (1.99)

Place of residence

Urban ............................................

Rural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16.0 (0.44)

16.4 (0.81)

7.1 (0.42)

5.6 (0.67)

25.1 (0.72)

26.0 (1.26)

31.9 (1.08)

35.8 (2.11)

Current smoking status12

Current smoker ......................................

Former smoker.......................................

Never smoker .......................................

26.0 (0.96)

16.0 (0.83)

12.5 (0.43)

9.0 (0.89)

7.1 (0.85)

6.2 (0.43)

35.7 (1.29)

23.6 (1.28)

20.4 (0.79)

45.6 (1.78)

30.2 (1.96)

25.9 (1.25)

See footnotes at end of table.
Page 18 [ Series 10, No. 253

Table 7. Percentages of dentate adults aged 18–64 who had an unmet dental need due to cost in the past 12 months, dentate adults with

no mouth or teeth problems, with one or more mouth or teeth problems, and with toothache as a problem, by selected demographic and

health characteristics: United States, 2008—Con.

Unmet dental need due to cost1

Dentate adults Dentate adults

with no with one or Dentate adults

All dentate mouth or more mouth with toothache

Selected characteristic adults teeth problems2 or teeth problems2 as a problem2

Current drinking status13 Percent3 (standard error)

Lifetime abstainer ..................................... 12.5 (0.74) 6.7 (0.77) 21.2 (1.36) 23.3 (1.94)

Former drinker ....................................... 22.3 (1.16) 7.7 (1.08) 33.2 (1.78) 42.8 (2.52)

Current light or infrequent drinker ........................... 15.9 (0.52) 6.5 (0.49) 24.8 (0.86) 31.8 (1.32)

Current moderate or heavier drinker.......................... 16.5 (0.81) 7.3 (0.81) 24.5 (1.26) 34.5 (1.98)

Diabetes status14

Yes .............................................. 20.8 (1.49) 7.8 (1.57) 28.3 (2.03) 36.4 (3.28)

No .............................................. 15.8 (0.40) 6.8 (0.37) 25.1 (0.65) 32.5 (0.98)

1

Based on the question: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS, was there any time when you needed any of the following, but didn’t get it because you couldn’t afford it? . . .Dental care (including
 

check-ups).’’ This table includes dentate adults only.
 

2

Based on the questions: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 6 MONTHS, have you had any of the following problems? . . .A toothache or sensitive teeth, . . .Bleeding gums, . . .Crooked teeth, . . .Broken or missing
 

teeth, . . .Stained or discolored teeth, . . .Loose teeth not due to an injury, . . .Broken or missing fillings.’’
 

3

Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.
 

4

Includes other races and Hispanic origin not shown separately and persons with unknown nativity, education, health and dental insurance status, dentition status, current smoking status, current
 

drinking status, and diabetes status.
 

5

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race or combination of races. Non-Hispanic or Latino persons of a single race other than groups shown or of multiple race are not shown
 

separately due to small sample sizes.
 

6

‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as having been born in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
 

Northern Marianas). Persons born in a foreign country to parents who were U.S. citizens were also defined as U.S. born. ‘‘Foreign born’’ is defined as persons living in the United States who were not
 

U.S. citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, illegal aliens, and persons on long-term temporary visas (such as students or guest workers) also fall in this category.
 

7

Shown only for persons aged 25 and over.
 

8

GED is General Educational Development high school equivalency diploma.
 

9

Based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year. ‘‘Poor’’ persons are defined as below the poverty threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’
 

persons have incomes of 100% to less than 200% of the poverty threshold. ‘‘Not poor’’ persons have incomes that are 200% of the poverty threshold or greater. Because of the different income
 

questions used in 2007 and beyond, poverty ratio estimates may not be comparable with those from earlier years.
 

10Classification of health insurance coverage is based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned to the first appropriate
 

category in the hierarchy. The category ‘‘private health insurance’’ includes adults who had any type of private coverage either alone or in combination with dental insurance coverage. The category
 

‘‘private health insurance’’ also includes persons who may have either ‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage.’’ An adult was defined as uninsured if he or she did not have any private health insurance,
 

Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), state-sponsored or other government sponsored health plan, or military plan at the time of the interview. An adult was also defined as
 

uninsured if he or she had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. A small percentage of persons covered by
 

‘‘Medicaid’’ or ‘‘other coverage’’ or who were uninsured may also have a single-service dental plan. See Appendix II for a more complete description of the health insurance coverage hierarchy and
 

types of dental insurance coverage.
 

11Includes adults covered by CHIP or other state-sponsored health plans.
 

12A current smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and currently smoked; a former smoker smoked at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime but not currently smoking; a never smoker never smoked
 

at all or smoked less than 100 cigarettes in lifetime.
 

13A lifetime abstainer had less than 12 drinks in lifetime; former drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, but none in the past year; current light drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime, at least 12 drinks in
 

past year, and 3 drinks or fewer per week on average; infrequent drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime and 1–11 drinks in past year; current moderate or heavier drinker had at least 12 drinks in lifetime,
 

at least 12 drinks in past year, and drank more than 3 drinks per week, on average.
 

14Female respondents were instructed to exclude pregnancy-related diabetes. Responses from persons who said they had ‘‘borderline’’ diabetes were treated as unknown with respect to diabetes.
 

NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the resident civilian noninstitutionalized population.
 

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 19

Appendix I. Technical Notes on Methods

Sample Design

The National Health Interview

Survey (NHIS) is a cross-sectional

household interview survey of the U.S.

civilian noninstitutionalized population.

Data are collected continuously

throughout the year in all 50 states and

the District of Columbia. NHIS uses a

multistage, clustered sample design to

collect information for a variety of

health indicators. Information on basic

health topics is collected for all

household members, if necessary, by

proxy from one adult family member.

Additional information is collected for

one randomly selected child (the

‘‘sample child’’) and one randomly

selected adult (the ‘‘sample adult’’) in

each family. Self response is required

for the Sample Adult questionnaire

except in rare cases where sample adults

are physically or mentally incapable of

responding for themselves. Interviews

are conducted in the home using

computer-assisted personal interviewing

(CAPI), with follow-up telephone

interviewing permitted, if necessary.

The 2008 NHIS sample design

oversamples households with black,

Hispanic, and Asian persons. Black,

Hispanic, and Asian persons aged 65

and over also have an increased chance

of being selected as a sample adult.

Response Rates

In 2008, NHIS interviews were

completed in 28,790 households and

29,421 families, with 21,781 adults aged

18–64 completing the Sample Adult

questionnaire. The conditional response

rate for the 2008 Sample Adult section

was 74.2%, and the final response rate

(which takes into account household and

family nonresponse) was 62.6%. The

household response rate for 2008 was

84.9%.

Item Nonresponse

Item nonresponse for each of the

sociodemographic indicators shown in

this report generally was about 1% or

less, with the exception of poverty

status, which is based on detailed family

income questions in the Family

component of the questionnaire. Item

nonresponse for the poverty indicator

was 19.4%. To minimize the possible

bias that could be introduced from a

relatively large amount of missing

income data, NHIS-imputed income files

were used (7). These data are produced

by multiple imputation, a technique that

allows the extra variation due to

imputation to be accounted for in the

data analysis. Item nonresponse rates

were 0.2% for the health characteristics

of dentition status, 1.2% for current

smoking status, 2.3% for current

drinking status, and 0.1% for diabetes

status. For the oral health items,

nonresponse rates ranged from 0.0% to

5.7%. The denominators for the

estimates shown in the tables exclude

persons with unknown oral health

related information for a given table.

Results for persons with unknown

sociodemographic characteristics are not

shown separately, but are included in the

totals for Tables 1–7.

Estimation Procedures and

Significance Testing

All estimates and associated

standard errors shown in this report

were generated using SUDAAN (6), a

software package designed to account

for complex sample designs such as that

of NHIS. All estimates were weighted

using the Sample Adult record weight to

represent the U.S. civilian

noninstitutionalized population aged 18

and over.

Tests of Significance

Statistical tests performed to assess

significance of differences in the

estimates were two tailed with no

adjustments for multiple comparisons.

The test statistic used to determine

significance of differences between two

percentages was

|Xa – Xb

|

Z = ,

√Sa

2 + Sb2

where Xa and Xb are the two

percentages being compared, and Sa and

Sb are the SUDAAN-calculated standard

errors of those percentages. The critical

value used for two-sided tests at the

0.05 level was 1.96.

Relative Standard Error

Estimates with a relative standard

error of greater than 30% but less than

or equal to 50% are identified with an

asterisk and should be used with caution

as they do not meet standards of

reliability or precision. Estimates with a

relative standard error of greater than

50% are indicated with a dagger (†) and

are not shown. The relative standard

errors are calculated as follows:

Relative standard error (as a

percentage) = (SE/Est) 100, where SE is

the standard error of the estimate, and

Est is the estimate.
Page 20 [ Series 10, No. 253

Appendix II. Definitions of Selected Terms

Sociodemographic Terms

Education—The categories of

education for adults are based on years

of school completed or highest degree

obtained for persons aged 25 and over.

Only years completed in a school that

advances a person toward an elementary

or high school diploma, General

Educational Development high school

equivalency diploma, or college,

university, or professional degree are

included. Education in other schools or

home schooling is counted only if the

credits are accepted in a regular school

system.

Hispanic or Latino origin—

Hispanic or Latino origin includes

persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican,

Cuban, Central and South American, or

Spanish origin. Persons of Hispanic or

Latino origin may be of any race.

Nativity—‘‘U.S. born’’ is defined as

having been born in one of the 50

states, the District of Columbia, Puerto

Rico, or any of the other U.S. territories

(e.g., American Samoa, Guam, U.S.

Virgin Islands, and Northern Marianas).

Persons born in a foreign country to

parents who were U.S. citizens were

also defined as U.S. born. Foreign-born

persons are defined as people living in

the United States who were not U.S.

citizens at birth. All naturalized citizens,

legal permanent residents, illegal aliens,

and persons on long-term temporary

visas (such as students or guest workers)

also fall in this category.

Poverty status or percentage of

poverty level—Based on family income,

family size, number of children in the

family, and, for families with two or

fewer adults, on the age of the adults in

the family. The poverty level is based

on definitions originally developed by

the U.S. Social Security Administration.

These include a set of income thresholds

defining the federal poverty level that

vary by family size and composition.

The thresholds are updated annually by

the U.S. Census Bureau to reflect

changes in the Consumer Price Index

for all urban consumers (8). The poverty

status of families or individuals is

classified relative to their appropriate

poverty threshold. Estimates by poverty

status are based on both reported and

imputed family income. Family income

information was completely missing for

9.4% of persons, and family income

information was only reported in broad

categories for an additional 22.0% of

persons in 2008. Therefore, imputed

family income was used for 31.4% of

persons in 2008 using the National

Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

imputed income files (7). Using the U.S.

Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds,

‘‘poor’’ persons are defined as those

with family incomes below the poverty

threshold. ‘‘Near poor’’ persons have

family incomes of 100% to less than

200% of the poverty threshold, and ‘‘not

poor’’ persons have family incomes that

are 200% of the poverty threshold or

greater.

Race—The 1997 Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) federal

guidelines (9) for reporting race require

that persons of ‘‘single race’’ be

distinguished from persons of ‘‘multiple

race.’’ ‘‘Single race’’ refers to persons

who indicated only a single-race group.

In this report, three categories are shown

for single-race individuals (white, black

or African American, and Asian). Other

subcategories of single-race persons and

multiple-race persons are not shown due

to statistical unreliability as measured by

the relative standard errors of the

estimates.

The text in this report uses shorter

versions of the OMB race terms for

conciseness, and the tables use the

complete terms. For example, the

category ‘‘black, single race’’ in a table

is referred to as ‘‘black’’ in the text.

Region—In the geographic

classification of the U.S. population,

states are grouped into four regions used

by the U.S. Census Bureau:

Region States included

Northeast	 Maine, Vermont, New

Hampshire, Massachusetts,

Connecticut, Rhode Island,

New York, New Jersey, and

Pennsylvania;

Midwest	 Ohio, Illinois, Indiana,

Michigan, Wisconsin,

Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri,

North Dakota, South Dakota,

Kansas, and Nebraska;

South	 Delaware, Maryland, District

of Columbia, West Virginia,

Virginia, Kentucky,

Tennessee, North Carolina,

South Carolina, Georgia,

Florida, Alabama,

Mississippi, Louisiana,

Oklahoma, Arkansas, and

Texas;

West	 Washington, Oregon,

California, Nevada, New

Mexico, Arizona, Idaho,

Utah, Colorado, Montana,

Wyoming, Alaska, and

Hawaii.

Health Insurance Terms

Comprehensive plan—Refers to a

health insurance plan or policy that

covers a variety of medical services.

These plans are designed to cover

general medical expenses such as blood

work or visits to a doctor’s office and

health catastrophes such as heart attacks

and cancer.

Comprehensive plan with dental

coverage—Refers to a private health

insurance plan that also has dental

coverage based on a positive response to

the following question: ‘‘Does [Plan

name] pay for any of the costs for

dental care?’’

Dental insurance status—The

examination of dental insurance status

was limited to those persons who had

private health insurance. Federal and

state assistance programs for dental care

are limited. The Children’s Health
Series 10, No. 253 [ Page 21

Insurance Program (CHIP) requires

states to provide limited dental coverage

for enrolled children up to age 19 years

(10). The Medicaid program requires

states to provide limited dental services

for most Medicaid-eligible individuals

under age 21, but there is no assistance

to provide dental services to individuals

aged 21 and over (10); therefore, due to

the limited or nonexistent public

coverage for dental care, this report

limits the analysis of dental insurance

status to adults aged 18–64 who have

private health insurance.

Health insurance coverage—NHIS

respondents were asked about their

health insurance coverage at the time of

the interview. Respondents reported

whether they were covered by private

insurance (obtained through the

employer or workplace, purchased

directly, or through a local or

community program), Medicare,

Medigap (supplemental Medicare

coverage), Medicaid, CHIP, Indian

Health Service (IHS), military coverage

(including VA, TRICARE, or

CHAMP–VA), a state-sponsored health

plan, another government program, or

any single-service plans. This

information was used to form a health

insurance hierarchy that consisted of

four mutually exclusive categories (11).

Persons with more than one type of

health insurance were assigned to the

first appropriate category in the

following hierarchy: private coverage,

Medicaid (includes persons with

Medicare, Medigap, Medicaid, CHIP, or

a state-sponsored health plan), other

coverage (includes any type of military

coverage or another government

program), and uninsured (also includes

persons who are only covered by IHS or

only have single-service plans).

Private health insurance—Indicated

when respondents reported that they

were covered by private health

insurance through an employer, or

union, or individual purchase. Private

health insurance includes managed care

such as health maintenance

organizations and does not include

military health plans.

Single-service dental plan—Refers

to a private insurance plan that only

pays for dental care.

Oral Health Terms

Comparative oral health

status—Based on the question: ‘‘Would

you say the condition of your mouth

and [if dentate] teeth is better than, the

same as or not as good as other people

your age?’’

Dental visit—Refers to any visit to

a dentist’s office (including oral

surgeons, orthodontists, or other dental

specialists) for treatment or advice,

including services by a technician or

hygienist acting under a dentist’s

supervision.

Dentition status includes:

Edentulous persons—Refers to

persons who have lost all of their

permanent teeth. An edentulous

person may have dentures.

Dentate persons—Refers to persons

who have not lost all of their

permanent teeth.

Interval since last dental

visit—Refers to length of time prior to

the week of interview since a dentist or

dental hygienist was last visited for

treatment or advice of any type.

Oral health status—Based on the

question: ‘‘How would you describe the

condition of your mouth and [if dentate]

teeth? Would you say very good, good,

fair or poor?’’

Problems with mouth—Based on

the question: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 6

MONTHS, have you had any of the

following problems that lasted more

than a day? . . .Pain in your jaw joint,

. . .Sores in your mouth, . . .Difficulty

eating or chewing, . . .Bad breath,

. . .Dry mouth.’’

Problems with teeth—Based on the

question asked among dentate adults:

‘‘DURING THE PAST 6 MONTHS,

have you had any of the following

problems? . . .A toothache or sensitive

teeth, . . .Bleeding gums, . . .Crooked

teeth, . . .Broken or missing teeth,

. . .Stained or discolored teeth, . . .Loose

teeth not due to an injury, . . .Broken or

missing fillings.’’

Reason for not seeing a dentist or

other dental health professional for a

mouth or tooth problem—Based on the

question: ‘‘DURING THE PAST 6

MONTHS, why didn’t you see a dentist

for the problems with your mouth or

teeth? . . .You didn’t think it was

important, . . .The problem went away,

. . .You could not afford treatment or

you didn’t have insurance, . . .You didn’t

have transportation, . . .You were afraid

to see a dentist, . . .You were waiting for

an appointment, . . .You didn’t think a

dentist could fix the problem.’’

Unmet dental need due to cost—

Based on the question: ‘‘DURING THE

PAST 12 MONTHS, was there any time

when you needed any of the following

but didn’t get it because you couldn’t

afford it? ... Dental care (including

check-ups)?’’

Health Behavior Terms

Current drinking status includes:

Lifetime abstainer—Refers to adults

who had fewer than 12 drinks in

their entire lifetime.

Former drinker—Refers to adults

who had 12 drinks or more in their

lifetime, but had no drinks in the

past year.

Current light or infrequent

drinker—Refers to adults who had

at least 12 drinks in their lifetime

and 1–11 drinks in the past year

(infrequent) or 3 drinks or fewer per

week, on average (light).

Current moderate or heavier

drinker—Refers to moderate

drinkers as adults who had at least

12 drinks in their lifetime and more

than 3 drinks per week up to 14

drinks per week (on average) for

men and more than 3 drinks per

week up to 7 drinks per week (on

average) for women. Adults who

had at least 12 drinks in their

lifetime and more than 14 drinks

per week (on average) for men and

more than 7 drinks per week (on

average) for women were heavier

drinkers.

Current smoking status includes:

Current—Refers to adults who have

smoked at least 100 cigarettes in

their lifetime and currently smoke

cigarettes every day or somedays.
Page 22 [ Series 10, No. 253

Former—Refers to adults who have

smoked at least 100 cigarettes in

their lifetime, but currently do not

smoke at all.

Never—Refers to adults who never

smoked a cigarette or who smoked

fewer than 100 cigarettes in their

entire lifetime.
Vital and Health Statistics

Series Descriptions

ACTIVE SERIES

Series 1.	 Programs and Collection Procedures—This type of report

describes the data collection programs of the National Center

for Health Statistics. Series 1 includes descriptions of the

methods used to collect and process the data, definitions, and

other material necessary for understanding the data.

Series 2.	 Data Evaluation and Methods Research—This type of

report concerns statistical methods and includes analytical

techniques, objective evaluations of reliability of collected

data, and contributions to statistical theory. Also included are

experimental tests of new survey methods, comparisons of

U.S. methodologies with those of other countries, and as of

2009, studies of cognition and survey measurement, and final

reports of major committees concerning vital and health

statistics measurement and methods.

Series 3.	 Analytical and Epidemiological Studies—This type of

report presents analytical or interpretive studies based on vital

and health statistics. As of 2009, Series 3 also includes

studies based on surveys that are not part of continuing data

systems of the National Center for Health Statistics and

international vital and health statistics reports.

Series 10.	 Data From the National Health Interview Survey—This

type of report contains statistics on illness; unintentional

injuries; disability; use of hospital, medical, and other health

services; and a wide range of special current health topics

covering many aspects of health behaviors, health status, and

health care utilization. Series 10 is based on data collected in

this continuing national household interview survey.

Series 11.	 Data From the National Health Examination Survey, the

National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, and

the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey—

In this type of report, data from direct examination, testing,

and measurement on representative samples of the civilian

noninstitutionalized population provide the basis for (1)

medically defined total prevalence of specific diseases or

conditions in the United States and the distributions of the

population with respect to physical, physiological, and

psychological characteristics, and (2) analyses of trends and

relationships among various measurements and between

survey periods.

Series 13.	 Data From the National Health Care Survey—This type of

report contains statistics on health resources and the public’s

use of health care resources including ambulatory, hospital,

and long-term care services based on data collected directly

from health care providers and provider records.

Series 20.	 Data on Mortality—This type of report contains statistics on

mortality that are not included in regular, annual, or monthly

reports. Special analyses by cause of death, age, other

demographic variables, and geographic and trend analyses

are included.

Series 21.	 Data on Natality, Marriage, and Divorce—This type of

report contains statistics on natality, marriage, and divorce

that are not included in regular, annual, or monthly reports.

Special analyses by health and demographic variables and

geographic and trend analyses are included.

Series 23.	 Data From the National Survey of Family Growth—These

reports contain statistics on factors that affect birth rates,

including contraception and infertility; factors affecting the

formation and dissolution of families, including cohabitation,

marriage, divorce, and remarriage; and behavior related to

the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

These statistics are based on national surveys of women and

men of childbearing age.

DISCONTINUED SERIES

Series 4.	 Documents and Committee Reports—These are final

reports of major committees concerned with vital and health

statistics and documents. The last Series 4 report was

published in 2002. As of 2009, this type of report is included

in Series 2 or another appropriate series, depending on the

report topic.

Series 5.	 International Vital and Health Statistics Reports—This

type of report compares U.S. vital and health statistics with

those of other countries or presents other international data of

relevance to the health statistics system of the United States.

The last Series 5 report was published in 2003. As of 2009,

this type of report is included in Series 3 or another series,

depending on the report topic.

Series 6.	 Cognition and Survey Measurement—This type of report

uses methods of cognitive science to design, evaluate, and

test survey instruments. The last Series 6 report was

published in 1999. As of 2009, this type of report is included

in Series 2.

Series 12.	 Data From the Institutionalized Population Surveys—

The last Series 12 report was published in 1974. Reports

from these surveys are included in Series 13.

Series 14.	 Data on Health Resources: Manpower and Facilities—

The last Series 14 report was published in 1989. Reports on

health resources are included in Series 13.

Series 15.	 Data From Special Surveys—This type of report contains

statistics on health and health-related topics collected in

special surveys that are not part of the continuing data

systems of the National Center for Health Statistics. The last

Series 15 report was published in 2002. As of 2009, reports

based on these surveys are included in Series 3.

Series 16.	 Compilations of Advance Data From Vital and Health

Statistics—The last Series 16 report was published in 1996.

All reports are available online, and so compilations of

Advance Data reports are no longer needed.

Series 22.	 Data From the National Mortality and Natality Surveys—

The last Series 22 report was published in 1973. Reports

from these sample surveys, based on vital records, are

published in Series 20 or 21.

Series 24.	 Compilations of Data on Natality, Mortality, Marriage, and

Divorce—The last Series 24 report was published in 1996.

All reports are available online, and so compilations of reports

are no longer needed.

For answers to questions about this report or for a list of reports published

in these series, contact:

Information Dissemination Staff

National Center for Health Statistics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

3311 Toledo Road, Room 5412

Hyattsville, MD 20782

1–800–232–4636

E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov

Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

3311 Toledo Road

Hyattsville, MD 20782

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DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 2012–1581, Series 10, No. 253