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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase the proportion of low-income youth who have a preventive dental visit — OH‑09 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About this objective  |  Methodology  |  History

About this objective

Data

Data Source:  National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), HRSA/MCHB

National baseline: 76.2 percent of children aged 1 through 17 years who reside in households with income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level received a preventive dental service in 2016-17

National target: 80.3 percent

Numerator
Number of low-income and poor youth aged 1 through 17 years who had 1 or more preventive dental visits (such as check-ups, dental cleanings, dental sealants, or fluoride treatments) in the past year.
Denominator
Number of low-income and poor youth, aged 1 through 17 years.
National target-setting method
Percentage point improvement
National target-setting method details
Percentage point improvement from the baseline using Cohen's h effect size of 0.10.
1
National target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. A percentage point improvement was calculated using Cohen's h effect size of 0.1. This method was used because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline.
National data collection frequency
Annual

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2016 through 2017 National Survey of Children's Health:

Numerator:
DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS, did this child see a dentist or other oral health care provider for any kind of dental or oral health care?

(K4Q30_R)

Select one:

  1. Yes, saw a dentist;
  2. Yes, saw other oral health care provider or
  3. No

If yes, DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS, did this child see a dentist or other oral health care provider for preventive dental care, such as check-ups, dental cleanings, dental sealants, or fluoride treatments?

(DENTISTVISIT)

Select one:

  1. No preventive visits in past 12 months,
  2. Yes, 1 visit, or
  3. Yes, 2 or more visits

Methodology notes

Please interpret with caution any estimate with a 95 percent confidence interval width exceeding 20 percentage points or 1.2 times the estimate.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective OH-8 in that objective OH-8 used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to track preventive dental services among low-income youth aged 2 to 18 years, while this objective uses data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to track preventive dental visits among low-income youth aged 1 to 17 years.
Revision History
  • Revised. 

    In 2021, the baseline was revised to correct a programming error. The baseline estimate was revised from 78.8 percent to 75.8 percent in 2016-2017. The target was adjusted from 82.7 percent to 79.9 percent to reflect the revised baseline using the original (Method II) percentage point improvement target-setting method.
  • Revised. 

    In April 2024, imputation and weighting by race and ethnicity were revised for the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health. To ensure comparability for trending, these changes were applied retroactively to data from the NSCH from 2016 through 2021 also. As a result, in 2026, the baseline value was changed from 75.8 to 76.2 percent. The target was changed from 79.9 to 80.3 percent. The target-setting method did not change.
Trend issues
Due to significant changes in the mode of data collection and sampling frame, 2016 NSCH data cannot be compared to prior NSCH data. This redesign for the NSCH will support trend analyses beginning with data from 2016. The wording of the survey items capturing preventive dental care changed to include care provided by other oral health care providers in addition to dentists.

1. Effect size h=0.1 was chosen to correspond with 10% improvement from a baseline of 50%.