Survey finds women more likely than men to forgo needed dental care due to cost

A 2019 observational survey report from the National Health Interview Survey examined access to dental care among US adults aged 18 years and older. The study assessed the percentage of adults who reported not getting needed dental care in the past 12 months because of cost. No specific intervention or comparator was reported in this descriptive analysis.

The main finding was that 19% of women reported forgoing needed dental care due to cost, compared to 16% of men. This indicates women were more likely than men to face this financial barrier. The report did not provide absolute numbers, effect sizes, p-values, or confidence intervals for this comparison.

Safety and tolerability data were not reported. Key limitations include the observational, self-reported nature of the survey data, which prevents causal inference. The findings are specific to the 2019 US adult population and may not be generalizable to other years or settings. Funding sources and conflicts of interest were not reported.

For practice, this survey identifies a gender disparity in reported financial barriers to dental care among US adults. Clinicians should recognize cost as a significant access issue, particularly for female patients. However, the data represent associations from a single point in time and do not explain the underlying reasons for the disparity.