The demand for preventive and restorative dental services among older adults
利用2007-2015年医疗支出面板调查数据，估计了老年人对预防性和修复性牙科服务的需求，发现私人牙科保险使预防服务使用增加25%，Medicaid覆盖使基本和主要修复服务使用分别增加23%和36%。
Many older Americans have poor access to dental care, resulting in a high prevalence of oral health problems. Because traditional Medicare does not include dental care benefits, only older Americans who are employed, have post-retirement dental benefits or spousal coverage, or enroll in certain Medicare Advantage plans are able to obtain dental care coverage. We seek to determine the extent to which poor access to dental insurance and high out-of-pocket costs affect dental service use by the elderly. Using the 2007-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and supplemental data on dental care prices, we estimate a demand system for preventive dental services and basic and major restorative services. Selection into dental and medical insurance is addressed using a correlated random effects panel data specification. Consistent with prior studies of the nonelderly population, dental service use was not sensitive to out-of-pocket prices. However, private dental insurance increased preventive service use by 25%, and dental coverage through Medicaid increased basic and major service use by 23% and 36%, respectively. The use of services was more responsive to dental insurance for women than men. These estimates suggest that a Medicare dental benefit could significantly increase dental service use by older Americans.