HC4.B Oral health: Percentage of children ages 5–17 with untreated dental caries (cavities) by age, poverty status, and race and Hispanic origin, selected years 1988–1994 through 2017–March 2020
HC4B Excel Table
HC4B Standard Error Excel Table
Characteristic | 1988–1994 | 1999–2004 | 2005–2008 | 2009–2010 | 2011–2012 | 2013–2014 | 2015–2016 | 2017–March 2020a |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ages 5–17 | ||||||||
Total | 24.3 | 23.3 | 16.4 | 14.3 | 16.7 | 18.1 | 13.9 | 12.2 |
Poverty status | ||||||||
Below 100% poverty | 39.0 | 33.5 | 26.3 | 21.6 | 24.3 | 24.9 | 19.9 | 19.4 |
100%–199% poverty | 29.7 | 32.2 | 18.3 | 18.7 | 21.1 | 19.8 | 17.7 | 15.9 |
200% poverty and above | 15.2 | 14.5 | 11.9 | 9.6 | 9.8 | 13.9 | 9.8 | 8.0 |
Race and Hispanic originb | ||||||||
White, non-Hispanic | 19.5 | 19.7 | 13.2 | 11.4 | 13.5 | 16.4 | 12.2 | 11.6 |
Black, non-Hispanic | 33.2 | 28.5 | 22.0 | 21.1 | 21.8 | 24.0 | 18.4 | 13.1 |
Asian, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | 15.5 | 15.5 | 12.2 | 13.1 |
Hispanic | — | — | — | 18.8 | 21.9 | 20.4 | 14.7 | 11.9 |
Mexican American | 38.3 | 34.1 | 22.0 | 21.4 | 23.9 | 22.3 | 15.3 | 12.5 |
Ages 5–11 | ||||||||
Total | 27.8 | 27.1 | 20.4 | 15.9 | 19.4 | 16.9 | 15.4 | 14.8 |
Poverty status | ||||||||
Below 100% poverty | 43.4 | 37.5 | 30.6 | 23.4 | 24.3 | 22.1 | 24.0 | 22.7 |
100%–199% poverty | 31.7 | 36.1 | 22.9 | 20.1 | 24.8 | 18.4 | 18.2 | 20.1 |
200% poverty and above | 18.1 | 17.3 | 15.0 | 10.6 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 10.5 | 9.4 |
Race and Hispanic originb | ||||||||
White, non-Hispanic | 23.0 | 23.3 | 17.7 | 12.4 | 15.1 | 14.7 | 14.6 | 12.3 |
Black, non-Hispanic | 34.3 | 32.1 | 26.3 | 18.5 | 25.9 | 21.8 | 21.0 | 16.0 |
Asian, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | 18.7 | 16.8 | 10.6 | 18.8 |
Hispanic | — | — | — | 23.8 | 26.0 | 20.2 | 14.6 | 16.6 |
Mexican American | 42.5 | 39.1 | 25.0 | 27.4 | 26.3 | 21.1 | 14.6 | 17.7 |
Ages 12–17 | ||||||||
Total | 20.0 | 18.8 | 11.9 | 12.5 | 13.7 | 19.4 | 12.4 | 9.3 |
Poverty status | ||||||||
Below 100% poverty | 32.5 | 28.1 | 20.3 | 19.3 | 24.2 | 28.6 | 14.2 | 14.7 |
100%–199% poverty | 27.4 | 26.8 | 12.4 | 16.9 | 17.1 | 21.5 | 17.2 | 11.7 |
200% poverty and above | 11.7 | 11.6 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 13.9 | 9.2 | 6.5 |
Race and Hispanic originb | ||||||||
White, non-Hispanic | 15.2 | 15.5 | 8.6 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 18.2 | 9.9 | 10.8 |
Black, non-Hispanic | 31.9 | 24.2 | 17.3 | 23.9 | 17.5 | 26.5 | 15.6 | 10.1 |
Asian, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | 12.4 | 14.2 | 13.8 | ‡ |
Hispanic | — | — | — | 12.4 | 17.0 | 20.7 | 14.9 | 6.3 |
Mexican American | 32.8 | 27.3 | 17.9 | 13.8 | 20.9 | 23.7 | 16.1 | 6.5 |
— Not available. | ||||||||
‡ Reporting standards not met; estimates are considered unreliable. | ||||||||
NOTE: Dental caries is evidence of decay on the crown or enamel surface of a tooth (i.e., coronal caries) and includes treated and untreated caries. Decay in the root (i.e., root caries) was not included. The presence of caries was evaluated in primary and permanent teeth for persons ages 5–17. The third molars were not included. Dental caries was identified by an oral examination as part of the survey. For more information on the NHANES oral examination, see Dye, B. A., Tan, S., Smith, V., Lewis, B. G., Barker, L. K., & Thornton-Evans, G. (2007). Trends in oral health status: United States, 1988–1994 and 1999–2004, Vital and Health Statistics, 11(248), 1–92. National Center for Health Statistics; Dye, B. A., Barker, L. K., Li, X., Lewis, B. G., & Beltrán-Aguilar, E. D. (2011). Overview and quality assurance for the oral health component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2005–08. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 71(1), 54–61; and https://wwwn.cdc.gov/Nchs/Nhanes/2017-2018/OHXDEN_J.htm. | ||||||||
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. |