A birth cohort analysis of dental contact among elderly Americans.

We applied standard cohort and multiple regression techniques to data on the dental utilization rates of 129,191 elderly individuals taken from the 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1980, and 1981 Health Interview Surveys. The results indicate that the marked variation in dental contact rates is a reflection of cohort succession, and not a function of aging per se. Older cohorts having lower dental contact rates are being replaced by younger cohorts having higher dental contact rates. The dental contact rates of the individual birth cohorts themselves are quite stable over time. The results also indicate that economic barriers (especially liquid assets) have become more important than ever before, especially for the oldest-old. These findings have important implications for public policy about the oral health and health care of elderly Americans.