Guay Albert H, Brown L Jackson, Wall Thomas
American Dental Association, Chicago, IL, USA.
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2008 Sep;134(3):337-43. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2008.01.012.
In this article, we describe recent trends in the age of patients receiving orthodontic services and look at how expenditures for these services are related to patient age and income level.
These findings are based on 3 national health expenditure surveys sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research conducted in 1987, 1996, and 2004.
Recent increases in the number of patients receiving orthodontic services were largely due to an increase in the overall population. There has been a shift in the age distribution of patients receiving such services. Children 8 to 18 made up a greater percentage of all patients receiving orthodontic services, but there were fewer adult patients aged 19 years and older.
Children 8 to 18 years old made up a larger percentage of patients who received orthodontic services in 2004 compared with 1996 and 1987. The percentage of total dental expenditures of children 8 to 18 for orthodontic services might increase in the future because of less need for restorative services among this segment of the population.
在本文中，我们描述了接受正畸治疗服务患者年龄的近期趋势，并探讨了这些服务的支出与患者年龄和收入水平之间的关系。
这些发现基于医疗保健政策与研究机构在1987年、1996年和2004年发起的3次全国卫生支出调查。
近期接受正畸治疗服务患者数量的增加主要归因于总人口的增长。接受此类服务患者的年龄分布发生了变化。8至18岁的儿童在所有接受正畸治疗服务的患者中所占比例更大，但19岁及以上的成年患者数量较少。
与1996年和1987年相比，2004年8至18岁的儿童在接受正畸治疗服务的患者中所占比例更大。由于该年龄段人群对修复性服务的需求减少，未来8至18岁儿童正畸治疗服务在牙科总支出中的比例可能会增加。
