Description

For all dental visits (EVENTYPE = 5), DENTPROC indicates if the visit included dental procedures other than those explicitly asked about in the interview. The specific dental procedure undergone at the visit is reported in DENTOTH (with an edited version available in DENTOTHX). An edited version of DENTPROC is available in DENTPROCX.

DENTPROC is one of a set of dental visit variables reporting the type of dental provider seen, the dental services received, and the total expenditures overall and by payment source associated with each dental visit. For more information about the dental visit variables, please refer to the DENTGEN variable description.

Comparability

Changes in the dental section question about what procedures were performed at the dental visit affect the comparability of DENTPROC over time. Changes in the specific types of dental procedures that were explicitly asked about in the dental care section of the MEPS-HC interview mean that the types of services included in DENTPROC and DENTOTH also change over time. After 2015, the MEPS dental care questions no longer asked explicitly about abscess or infection treatment (DENTABSCESS), bonding, whitening, or bleaching (DENTWHIT), or treatment for TMJ or TMD (DENTTMDTMJ). Beginning in 2016, these procedures are flagged in DENTPROC and the verbatim response included in DENTOTH (1996-2014) and DENTOTHX (1996-forward). Beginning in 2015, DENTOTH was no longer offered on the public use MEPS files.

Universe

Availability

• 1996-2021

Weights

• 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT

Flags