Nalliah Romesh P, Lee Min Kyeong, Rampa Sankeerth, Whitcomb Michael, Allareddy Veeratrishul, Allareddy Veerasathpurush
Office of Dental Education, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, USA.
J Mass Dent Soc. 2013 Summer;62(2):24-8.
To provide nationally representative estimates of all hospital-based emergency department (ED) visits with dental caries, pulp and periapical lesions, gingival/periodontal lesions, and mouth cellulitis occurring among the older population groups (aged 60 years and above).
The 2008 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project was used. This database provides weighted estimates of all ED visits in the United States (approximately 150 million). Hospital discharges with primary procedure ICD-9-CM codes for dental conditions in adults aged 60 and older were evaluated. All estimates obtained from the sample were projected to national levels.
A total of 50,881 ED visits had a dental condition including dental caries (33.6%), pulpal lesions (10.4%), periapical abscess (36%), gingival conditions (11%), and cellulitis (6.7%). Close to 72.7% were discharged routinely and 25.1% were admitted as inpatients into the same hospitals. About 63.4% of ED visits were covered by Medicare. Close to 40% of all ED visits occurred in the southern regions. The mean charge per ED visit was $1,114, and the total charges across the entire United States were $44.8 million.
In comparison to other age groups, older adults are hospitalized more frequently after ED visits for dental conditions. As the U.S. population ages, innovative programs are necessary to manage dental conditions in dental offices and reduce the number of ED visits and hospitalizations for dental complaints by older adults.
提供具有全国代表性的老年人群体（60岁及以上）因龋齿、牙髓和根尖周病变、牙龈/牙周病变以及口腔蜂窝织炎而进行的所有基于医院急诊科（ED）就诊情况的估计数据。
使用了2008年医疗保健成本和利用项目的全国急诊科样本。该数据库提供了美国所有急诊科就诊情况的加权估计值（约1.5亿次）。对60岁及以上成年人以国际疾病分类第九版临床修正本（ICD - 9 - CM）编码为主要程序的牙科疾病出院情况进行了评估。从样本中获得的所有估计值都推算到了全国水平。
共有50881次急诊科就诊与牙科疾病有关，包括龋齿（33.6%）、牙髓病变（10.4%）、根尖周脓肿（36%）、牙龈疾病（11%）和蜂窝织炎（6.7%）。近72.7%的患者常规出院，25.1%的患者作为住院病人入住同一家医院。约63.4%的急诊科就诊费用由医疗保险支付。所有急诊科就诊中近40%发生在南部地区。每次急诊科就诊的平均费用为1114美元，全美国的总费用为4480万美元。
与其他年龄组相比，老年人因牙科疾病在急诊科就诊后住院的频率更高。随着美国人口老龄化，有必要开展创新项目来管理牙科诊所的牙科疾病，减少老年人因牙科问题而进行的急诊科就诊和住院次数。
