[영문]Objectives. We sought to determine if the recent expansions in Medicaid and theState Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have resulted in a narrowing ofincome disparities over time with the use of dental care in children 2 to 17 years ofage.Methods. Six years of data from the National Health Interview Survey were utilized.A trend analysis was conducted using 1983 as a baseline, which predates theexpansions, and 2001?2002, the endpoint, which postdates implementation of theexpansions. In addition, we examined two intermediate time points (1989 and1997?1998). We conducted unadjusted and adjusted analyses using logisticregression.Results. Overall, use of ambulatory dental care has increased dramatically forchildren over the past two decades. In 1983, more than one in three children(38.5%) had no dental care within the previous 12 months. By 2001?2002, aboutone-quarter of children (26.3%) were reported to have no dental care within theyear, a reduction of 12.2% from 1983 (p0.001). Frequency of unmet dental careremained unchanged between 1997?1998 (the first year this measure was available)and 2001?2002. A reduction in income disparities for use of dental care was foundin our unadjusted analysis but this difference became statistically insignificant in theadjusted analysis. No changes in income disparities occurred for unmet dentalneeds in either the unadjusted or adjusted analyses.Conclusions. A substantial overall improvement in dental care use has occurredamong all income groups, including poor and near poor children. This “keepingup” with their higher-income counterparts represents an important public healthaccomplishment for children in low-income families. Nevertheless, additional effortsare needed to close remaining disparities in access to dental care.