Sociodemographic correlates of tooth pain among adults: United States, 1989

This study presents the sociodemographic distribution of tooth pain and the dental care utilization of affected individuals. Data for adults 20 years of age and over were derived from the 1989 National Health Interview Survey 's supplements on dental health, orofacial pain, and health insurance (n = 33 073). Prevalence of tooth pain by socioeconomic status (SES) and adjuste d odds ratios of reporting tooth pain in the past 6 months and of having no dental visits in the past year among persons reporting pain in the previou s 6 months were computed taking into account the survey's complex sample de sign. Tooth pain in the past 6 months was reported by 14.5% (95% CI 14.0, 1 5.0) of adults aged 20-64 years and by 7.0% (95% CI 6.1, 7.9) of those 65 y ears and over. In the younger age group, tooth pain was more likely to be r eported by those with low SES than it was by those with high SES; in the ol der age group, tooth pain was more likely reported by non-Hispanic blacks t han it was by non-Hispanic whites or Hispanics. Of those reporting pain, yo unger and older non-Hispanic blacks and persons with lower educational atta inment were more likely not to have a dental visit in the previous 12 month s. Persons with low SES characteristics were more likely to report tooth pa in and to endure their pain without the benefit of dental care while the pa in was present. Published for the International Association for the Study o f Pain by Elsevier Science B.V.