2020 to 2022 saw nearly 2 million annual emergency room visits for dental issues

Tooth disorders accounted for an annual average of 1,944,000 emergency department visits during 2020 to 2022, as reported in a June data brief from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Researchers Susan M. Schappert and Loredana Santo, M.D., M.P.H., analyzed data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to study emergency department visits related to tooth disorders from 2020 to 2022.

The study revealed that during this period, there were 1,944,000 emergency department visits for tooth disorders on average annually, with a rate of 59.4 visits per 10,000 people. Adults aged 25 to 34 years accounted for the highest percentage of these visits (29.2%). The majority of emergency department visits for tooth disorders were made by White non-Hispanic individuals, followed by Black non-Hispanics and Hispanics. Medicaid was the primary expected source of payment for most visits. Notably, there was a decrease in the use of opioids as the sole pain relief medication given or prescribed during emergency department visits for tooth disorders, dropping from 38.1% in 2014-2016 to 16.5% in 2020-2022.

“During 2020 to 2022, tooth disorders were responsible for approximately 1.9 million emergency department visits per year, representing about 1.4% of all emergency department visits, with a rate of 59.4 visits per 10,000 people,” the authors stated. “The distribution of emergency department visits for tooth disorders varied by age and race/ethnicity of the patients, but not by gender.”

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