School of Oral and Dental Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS1 2LY, UK.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2022 Apr;153(4):300-308. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.09.004. Epub 2021 Dec 22.
Untreated caries is a prevalent disease that is associated with a substantial health and economic burden. Many past efforts have assessed the epidemiology of untreated caries, and this study provides the most up-to-date figures on the distribution and determinants of the disease in the adult US population for the period 2017 through 2020.
Using data from the 2017-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the author derived estimates for untreated caries prevalence in the adult US population. The author conducted subgroup analyses to assess how the epidemiology differed between coronal and root caries and how the disease was distributed among population subgroups.
On the basis of a weighted sample representative of 193.5 million adults, the prevalence of untreated caries was found to be 21.3%. Specific prevalence of coronal and root caries were 17.9% and 10.1%, respectively. Caries was most prevalent in those aged 30 through 39 years (25.2%) and 40 through 49 years (22.3%), men (23.5%), those of other (36.5%) or non-Hispanic Black (35.6%) race or ethnicity, those with family income to poverty ratio of 0.5 through 1.0 (46.2%) or less than 0.5 (37.3%), those with educational attainment less than high school graduation (39.6%), those who did not have health insurance (42.1%), and those who were underweight (25.1%) or obese (23.5%).
Untreated caries is present in more than 1 in 5 adults within the US population and is disproportionately distributed among those of lower socioeconomic status.
There is a substantial unmet health care need in the US adult population for the prevention and management of untreated caries, and public health efforts should aim particularly to address disease within those subgroups who are at a disproportionately high risk.
未经治疗的龋齿是一种普遍存在的疾病，它与巨大的健康和经济负担有关。过去有许多研究评估了未经治疗的龋齿的流行病学，本研究提供了 2017 年至 2020 年期间美国成年人群中该疾病分布和决定因素的最新数据。
作者利用 2017-2020 年全国健康和营养调查的数据，得出了美国成年人群中未经治疗的龋齿患病率的估计值。作者进行了亚组分析，以评估冠龋和根龋的流行病学有何不同，以及该疾病在人群亚组中的分布情况。
根据一个代表 1.935 亿成年人的加权样本，发现未经治疗的龋齿患病率为 21.3%。冠龋和根龋的具体患病率分别为 17.9%和 10.1%。30 至 39 岁（25.2%）和 40 至 49 岁（22.3%）、男性（23.5%）、其他（36.5%）或非西班牙裔黑人（35.6%）种族或族裔、家庭收入贫困比为 0.5 至 1.0（46.2%）或以下（37.3%）、未完成高中学业（39.6%）、没有医疗保险（42.1%）以及体重不足（25.1%）或肥胖（23.5%）的人群中，龋齿的患病率最高。
美国成年人中有超过 1/5的人患有未经治疗的龋齿，且社会经济地位较低的人群中患病率不成比例。
美国成年人在预防和管理未经治疗的龋齿方面存在巨大的未满足的医疗需求，公共卫生工作应特别针对那些患病风险高的亚组人群来解决这一问题。
