Demographic characteristics of general dental practice sites.

This study investigates the demographic characteristics of general dental practice sites in the United States and develops a model that identifies practice site characteristics commonly associated with general dental practices. Demographic data and general dental practices were organized by zip codes and analyzed using Discriminant Analysis. The demographic characteristics associated with zip codes that contained a general dental practice were determined. The resulting model correctly classified 85.2% of the 30,115 zip code areas, based on the presence or absence of a general dental practice. The variables most closely associated with a zip code containing a general dental practice included population size, age distribution of the population, educational background, and economic status. Demographic characteristics are predictive of sites with or without a general dental practice. Zip codes with large, urban populations that have positive socio-economic characteristics, such as high income and education levels, are the most likely to have a general dental practice. A significant number of zip codes in the U.S. (852) have the demographic characteristics associated with a general dental practice site but do not have a general dentist.