Cheng Feng-Chou, Wang Yin-Lin, Chiang Chun-Pin
Chia-Te Dental Clinic, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
J Dent Sci. 2023 Jan;18(1):330-337. doi: 10.1016/j.jds.2022.10.001. Epub 2022 Oct 15.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The penetration rate of National Health Insurance (NHI) of Taiwan is as high as 99.9%. This study investigated the dental use for dental caries under the NHI system of Taiwan in 2020.
The population data and medical records of the NHI system were obtained from the websites of Ministry of the Interior and the NHI Administration, respectively. The dental patient data were divided into 18 age groups to analyze the dental use indicators for dental caries under the NHI system in Taiwan in 2020.
The dental use rate for treatment of dental caries had the highest peak (55.69%) in the 5-9-year age group under the NHI system in Taiwan in 2020. It dropped abruptly to a lower point (27.39%) in the 15-19-year age group, fluctuated and declined gradually with increasing age, and finally dropped to the lowest point of 10.10% in the greater than 85-year age group. Furthermore, the number of out-patient visits per 1000 people and the medical expenses per person for dental caries among the same 18 age groups also showed a similar trend to the dental use rate.
Dental caries is still the main disease of the oral cavity in Taiwan. From a cost-effectiveness viewpoint, Taiwan government should develop a better oral health policy to decrease the incidence of dental caries and to prevent dental caries from deteriorating into diseases of the pulp and periapical tissues for all citizens, especially for young children and school children.
背景/目的：台湾地区国民健康保险（NHI）的覆盖率高达99.9%。本研究调查了2020年台湾地区国民健康保险体系下龋齿的牙科治疗使用情况。
国民健康保险体系的人口数据和医疗记录分别从内政部网站和国民健康保险署网站获取。将牙科患者数据分为18个年龄组，以分析2020年台湾地区国民健康保险体系下龋齿的牙科治疗使用指标。
2020年台湾地区国民健康保险体系下，5-9岁年龄组治疗龋齿的牙科治疗使用率最高（55.69%）。在15-19岁年龄组中急剧下降至较低水平（27.39%），并随着年龄增长波动且逐渐下降，最终在85岁以上年龄组降至最低点10.10%。此外，在相同的18个年龄组中，每1000人的门诊就诊次数和每人治疗龋齿的医疗费用也呈现出与牙科治疗使用率相似的趋势。
龋齿仍是台湾地区口腔的主要疾病。从成本效益的角度来看，台湾地区政府应制定更好的口腔健康政策，以降低所有公民尤其是幼儿和学童龋齿的发病率，并防止龋齿恶化为牙髓和根尖周组织疾病。
