Socio-Economic Determinants of the Need for Dental Care in Adults

Gilda Trohel, Valérie Bertaud-Gounot, Marion Soler, Pierre Chauvin and Olivier Grimaud

PLOS ONE, 2016, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: Background: Oral health has improved in France. However, there are still inequalities related to the socio-economic status. Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of dental care needs in an adult population and to identify the demographic, socio-economic and behavioral variables that may explain variations in this parameter. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of the French SIRS cohort (n = 2,997 adults from the Paris region; 2010 data) was carried out to determine the prevalence of self-reported dental care needs relative to demographic, socio-economic and behavioral variables. A logistic regression model was used to identify the variables that were most strongly associated with the level of need. Results: In 2010, the prevalence of the need for dental care in the SIRS cohort was 35.0% (95% CI [32.3–37.8]). It was lower in people with higher education levels (31.3% [27.9–34.6]), without immigrant background (31.3% [28.0–34.6]) and with comprehensive health insurance (social security + complementary health cover; 32.8% [30.2–35.4]). It decreased as the socio-economic status increased, but without following a strict linear change. It was also lower among individuals who had a dental check-up visit in the previous two years. In multivariate analyses, the socioeconomic variables most strongly associated with the need for dental care were: educational attainment (OR = 1.21 [1.02–1.44]), income level (OR = 1.66 [1.92–2.12]) and national origin (OR = 1.53 [1.26–1.86]). Conclusion: These results confirm that the prevalence of dental care needs is higher among adults with low socio-economic status. Education level, income level and also national origin were more strongly associated with the need for dental care than insurance cover level.

Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0158842

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158842

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