Methods. This study is based on an analysis of data regarding dental visits among Hispanics two years of age and older from the National Health Interview Survey of 1999. The authors compared the 1999 data with a combined sample from 1978 through 1980.

Results. Although the level of dental visits for all Hispanic subgroups increased between the period of 1978 through 1980 and 1999, the level of dental visits was lowest among Mexican-Americans. For Mexican-Americans born outside the United States, the longer they had lived in the United States, the more likely they were to have visited a dentist.

Conclusions. Increases in the utilization of dental services among Hispanics provide some optimism for reductions in the level of untreated oral disease among Hispanics in the future. However, if increases in dental care utilization among Mexican-Americans fail to keep pace with those among other segments of the U.S. population, this population group risks falling further behind.

Practice implications. Hispanic patients will make up a greater percentage of all dental patients in the future. The impact of this growth will vary greatly by state.