Utilization of Dental Services in Southern China

Abstract

A population's utilization of dental services is an important parameter in oral health care planning, which has rarely been studied in China. The objectives of this report were to describe the dental service utilization pattern of middle-aged and elderly Chinese and to analyze the influence of selected variables on the use of dental services. A Guangdong Province population of 1573 35- to 44-year-olds and 1515 65- to 74-year-olds recruited from urban and rural communities was interviewed in their local dialect. It was found that 23% of the middle-aged and 24% of the elderly subjects had visited a dentist within the preceding year. The two most commonly cited reasons for not having seen a dentist for at least 3 years were: no perceived need, and no serious dental problems. Among subjects who had visited a dentist within 3 years, the 3 most commonly received treatments were: fillings, extractions, and dental prostheses. Furthermore, a logistic regression analysis showed that women, subjects who lived in urban areas, were better educated, were wealthier, and had better oral health knowledge were more likely to be a recent dental service user. In conclusion, dental service utilization among the adult Southern Chinese was found to be low, problem-driven, and influenced by some socio-economic factors.

Keywords

adult use of dental care oral health survey Chinese.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ashley FP (1989). Role of dental health education in preventive dentistry. In: The prevention of dental disease. Murray JJ , editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 406-414.

Federation Dentaire Internationale (1990). FDI basic facts 1990. London: Federation Dentaire Internationale, pp. 39-40.

Feske J. , Gelbier S. , Watson RM (1990). Barriers to dental care in an elderly population resident in an inner city area. J Dent 18:236-242.

Gift HC ( 1984). Utilization of professional dental services. In: Social sciences and dentistry-a critical bibliography. Vol. II . Cohen LK , Bryant PS , editors. London: Quintessence Publishing Co. Ltd., pp. 202-266.

Glavind L. , Nyvad B. (1986). The scientific basis for oral health recommendation . In: Promotion of self care in oral health. Gjermo P , editor. Oslo: Scandinavian Working Group for Preventive Dentistry, pp. 77-93.

Kwan SY , Williams SA (1999). Dental beliefs, knowledge and behaviour of Chinese people in the United Kingdom. Community Dent Health 16:33-39.

Lo Ecm , Schwarz E. (1994). Attitudes towards dentists and the dental care system among the middle-aged and the elderly in Hong Kong. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 22:369-373.

Locker D. , Liddell A. , Burman D. (1991). Dental fear and anxiety in an older adult population . Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 19:120-124.

Miller AJ , Brunelle JA , Carlos JP , Brown LJ , Loe H. (1987). Oral health of United States adults. Bethesda: National Institute of Dental Research, US Department of Health and Human Services.

10.

Peng B. , Petersen PE , Tai BJ , Yuan BY , Fan MW (1997). Changes in oral health knowledge and behaviour 1987-95 among inhabitants of Wuhan City, PR China. Int Dent J 47:142-147.

11.

Petersen PE , Esheng Z. (1998). Dental caries and oral health behaviour situation of children, mothers, and schoolteachers in Wuhan, PR China. Int Dent J 48:210-216.

12.

Petersen PE , Holst D. (1995). Utilization of dental health services. In: Disease prevention and oral health promotion. Cohen LK , Gift HC , editors. Copenhagen: Munksgaard , pp. 342-386.

13.

Petersen PE , Peng B. , Tai BJ (1997). Oral health status and oral health behaviour of middle-aged and elderly people in PR China. Int Dent J 47:305-312.

14.

Schwarz E. , Lo Ecm (1994). Use of dental services by the middle-aged and the elderly in Hong Kong. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 22:374-380.

15.

Schwarz E. , Zhang HG , Wang ZJ , Lin HC , Lo Ecm , Corbet EF , et al. (2001). An oral health survey in Southern China, 1997: background and methodology. J Dent Res 80:1453-1458.

16.

Sun ZH (1992). The self-care of oral diseases in urban and rural Chinese people. Chin J Soc Med 2:32-38 (in Chinese).

17.

Todd JE , Lader D. (1991). Adult oral health 1988-United Kingdom. London: HMSO.

18.

World Health Organization (1984). Prevention methods and programmes for oral diseases. Technical Report Series 713. Geneva: World Health Organization .

19.

Zhu ZT (1993). Questionnaire survey on oral health knowledge in 1,049 residents in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. J Dent Prev Treatmt 2 :42-43 (in Chinese).