Orthodontic Expenditures Across Insurance Coverage

Objectives: Orthodontic treatment is important for establishing proper jaw alignment. Improper functional bite when untreated can lead to significant health issues and serious dental issues. Orthodontic treatment is also utilized for esthetics. With significant dental and health problems arising from untreated orthodontic issues, it may be important for dental coverage to include orthodontic treatment. This study assessed orthodontic expenditures across various dental insurance coverage.
Methods: This study used data collected by the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to examine dental orthodontic expenditures in the United States from 1996-2016. Trends in orthodontic expenditures were displayed graphically and spending across various sources of insurance coverage was examined. All expenditures were adjusted for inflation or deflation to the 2016 US dollar.
Results: Most expenditures for orthodontic visits during the last 20 years were from self-paying individuals. Self-paying and privately insured patients were responsible for the greatest orthodontic expenditures, portraying a gradually increasing trend from 1996-2016. Government insurance contributed the least to orthodontic visits with minimal change in spending.
Conclusions: Self-paying and private insurances contributed the most in orthodontic treatment in the past 20 years and displayed an increasing trend in spending that is likely to continue increasing in the future. While the self-paying and private insurance subgroups conveyed an increasing trend in expenditures, government insurance showed little change, pointing towards a stagnant policy that will likely need to be adjusted or reformed to accommodate the orthodontic needs and desires of the population.