This public use data file is one in a series of event-level public use data files drawn from the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Released as an ASCII file with SAS, SPSS, and STATA programming statements and in SAS transport format, the Dental Visits File provides detailed information on dental events for a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States during the 1997 calendar year. This file consists of 1997 data obtained in the 1997 portion of round 3, and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 1, as well as rounds 1, 2, and the 1997 portion of round 3 for Panel 2 of the survey and contains variables pertaining to household reported dental visits.
The file includes the date of the dental event, type of provider seen, if the visit was due to an accident, reason for the dental event, number of condition(s) and procedure(s) associated with the dental event, and whether or not medicines were prescribed.
The Dental Visits Public Use Data File consists of 2 event-level data files. File 1 contains characteristics associated with the dental event and imputed expenditure data. File 2 contains pre-imputed expenditure data.
For more information, see MEPS HC-029: 1997 MEPS HC Survey Data.