Associations between Dental Checkups and Unmet Dental Care Needs: An Examination of Cross-Sectional Data from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018)

Jong-Hwa Jang, Ji-Liang Kim and Jae-Hyun Kim
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Jong-Hwa Jang: Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Science, Dankook University, Cheonan-si 31116, Korea
Ji-Liang Kim: Department of Public Health, General Graduate School of Dankook University, Cheonan-si 31116, Korea
Jae-Hyun Kim: Department of Health Administration, College of Health Science, Dankook University, Cheonan-si 31116, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: To identify gender- and age-related associations between adult dental checkups and unmet dental care needs, we analyzed data of 14,000 participants, from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018). Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and interviews. The complex sample chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that 31.7% of participants had unmet dental care needs. Within the previous 12 months, 56.5% did not undertake dental checkups, and 29.3% did not use a dental service. Odds ratios (ORs) of the unmet dental needs were 8.87 (confidence interval (CI) = 7.80–10.09, p < 0.001) for those who did not use dental services and 1.28 (CI = 1.13–1.44, p < 0.001) for those who did not have dental checkups. Significant age-dependent associations between those not receiving dental checkups and the rate of unmet dental care included men and women aged 50–59 years and women ?70 years. However, unmet dental care needs for men aged ?70 years not undergoing dental checkups were not statistically significant ( p = 0.311). Overall, it was found that the use of dental service and dental checkups were the influencing factors for unmet dental care needs.

Keywords: oral health; dental checkup; Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES); dental care; dental service utilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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