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Objectives. This study describes the relationship between dental needs and dental care utilization among children. Methods. Data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) were used to analyze dental care needs and dental care utilization. Results. Younger children with perceived needs (needs perceived by the child or responsible adult) were more likely to be episodic users of dental care than children without perceived needs. Younger children with normative needs (defined by the presence of untreated caries diagnosed by a dentist) were less likely to be regular users. Older children with perceived or normative needs were more likely to be episodic users and less likely to have had a previous-year visit than children with no needs. Conclusions. Despite their presence, dental needs do not drive dental care use among children, and children's dental care utilization is inadequate.

Poor and minority children have substantially more dental decay than advantaged children. Using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) on the health of 10,332 children, researchers determined that 79% of teeth were decayed in the poorest children with some tooth decay, while 45% were decayed in children from households earning three or more times the federal poverty level of income. Untreated tooth decay was also more common in black and Mexican-American children than in white children and those from higher-income families.