title: Utilization of services for preventable disease: a case study of dental care in a southern rural area of the United States.
abstract: The use made of dental services, both preventive and symptomatic, was explored in a small rural southern community in North Carolina as part of a case study illustrative of southern rural patterns of utilization of elective health services. The target population of 1689 persons in 545 households was interviewed in a household survey and in each of four follow-up panel visits over a period of one year--1974--75. Though overall utilization of dental services was low and preventive dental services even lower in both blacks and whites, blacks were at a considerable disadvantage. Unlike whites, increasing education did not increase use of services in blacks; also, unlike whites, black mothers' preventive behaviour was not associated with increased dental preventive behaviour in their children. In addition to barriers to care suffered by the poor, blacks in the south still have additional barriers to overcome: Established patterns of practice are slow to change even when legal and financial barriers are lowered.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003729:Dental Care; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009657:North Carolina; D011313:Preventive Dentistry; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012423:Rural Health; D014481:United States