Dental Visits and Costs During the Pandemic

Regular preventive dental care can catch problems early when they're usually easier to treat, but data show dental visits were substantially reduced early in the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic trends. Two AHRQ statistical briefs explore how the March 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic affected access to dental treatment, both in dental offices and in emergency departments.

• MEPS #555 Dental Utilization and Expenditures, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population Aged 2 and Older, 2019–2021
• HCUP #305 Treat-and-Release Emergency Department Utilization and Costs for Traumatic and Nontraumatic Dental Conditions, 2019 and 2020

Dental Visits and Expenditures, 2019 to 2021

This data visualization presents trends in dental service utilization and expenditures among the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population aged 2 years and older using data from AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Component.

Select from the boxes at left and the drop-down menu to see data on dental visits and expenditures by age and by month to compare 2019 to 2021.

Emergency Department Dental Visits, 2019 and 2020

This visualization presents statistics on treat-and-release Emergency Department utilization and costs for dental-related conditions during the pandemic using data from AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.

Select from the boxes at left and the drop-down menu to see data on the costs of dental visits in Emergency Departments and aggregate visits by trauma level, by year, and by age.