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

Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with lifetime tooth decay — OH‑01 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History  |  References

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), CDC/NCHS

Baseline: 48.4 percent of children and adolescents aged 3 to 19 years had lifetime tooth decay experience in their primary or permanent teeth in 2013-16

Target: 42.9 percent

Numerator
Number of children and adolescents aged 3 to 19 years with untreated tooth decay or presence of filling observed in at least 1 primary tooth or permanent tooth, or evidence of a missing tooth due to untreated tooth decay.
Denominator
Number of children and adolescents aged 3 to 19 years.
Target-setting method
Minimal statistical significance
Target-setting method details
Minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline.
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. The standard error was used to calculate a target based on minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline. This method was used because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline.

Methodology

Methodology notes

Caries experience is defined as the presence of either untreated tooth decay or treated (restored or filled) tooth decay. Caries is the disease that causes tooth decay and can lead to cavities in teeth. The measurement protocol described for Healthy People 2000 is still in use. Data on missing primary teeth are not captured by NHANES. Indicators of caries in primary teeth omit missing teeth to avoid potential misclassification of teeth lost to natural exfoliation as missing due to caries.

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 the related Healthy People 2020 objectives in that objectives OH-1.1, OH-1.2, and OH-1.3 tracked children and adolescents aged 3 to 5 years, 6 to 9 years, and 13 to 15 years, respectively, with dental caries experience in their primary or permanent teeth, while this objective tracks children and adolescents aged 3 to 19 years with lifetime tooth decay experience in their primary or permanent teeth.

References

Additional resources about the objective

Vargas C, Schober S, Gift H. Operational Definitions for Year 2000 Objectives: Priority Area 13, Oral Health. Healthy People 2000 Stat Notes. 1997;(12):1-17.. (PHS) 97-1237
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt12.pdf