Data Resource Center
Code library  Add announcement for IBS oral health and statistics session

Several large national and state-based surveys collect oral health data as part of broader surveys of health.  The process of tracking down which surveys contain which oral health items can be time-consuming.  Getting familiar with each data set with also takes time.

The goals of the code library are to
   orient researchers to the oral health data available in public release survey data sets
   reduce the start-up time required to learn about the oral health components of large data sets
   encourage full use of publicly available data to explore health and methodological questions in oral health research
   provide additional documentation for government-published oral health surveillance data

Code library resources include
  crosswalks for variable names and codes for survey cycles
  oral health documentation abstracted from each survey's documentation*
  documentation specific to oral health items in the surveys that may not be available elsewhere 
  programs for use with statistical software to reproduce results released in government Web sites or publications

Where to start?
This table provides an overview of oral health data and indicators available from surveys with public release data sets:
  Table of key oral health indicators available from different surveys

Or to learn more about oral health data and resources by survey, choose from the surveys below:

To review specific wording of similar questions asked in different surveys, see the Survey Questions section of this Web site.

*It's still very important to read the full documentation!  Each survey has its own extensive documentation.  Reading these abstracts is not a substitute for reading the full documentation, especially the recommendations for analysis – it's just a starting point.  The surveys are very rich in data from many other health areas that researchers may wish to explore in conjunction with oral health.  Identifying other important factors to consider in any analysis requires further reading in the complete documentation for each survey, and the scientific literature.