Use of specific dental treatment procedures by dentate adults during a 24-month period.
OBJECTIVE
To (a) describe the incidence of use of specific dental services; (b) test the hypothesis that certain predisposing, enabling, and need (PEN) factors are differentially predictive of service use; and (c) test the hypothesis that even with other PEN factors taken into account, race and household income are differentially predictive of certain dental services. Previously, this study identified PEN factors that predicted use of any care; herein we identify whether these same factors were differentially predictive of specific service use among users of at least one service.


METHODS
The Florida Dental Care Study was a longitudinal study of persons aged 45 years or older who had at least one tooth. Subjects participated for interviews and clinical examinations at baseline and 24 months later, with 6-monthly telephone interviews between those times.


RESULTS
Seventy-seven percent of subjects reported one or more visits. Results from a single multivariate multiple logistic regression suggested that even once analysis was limited to persons who used at least one dental service, at least one measure from each of the PEN domains was predictive of specific dental service use.


CONCLUSIONS
Each PEN domain was predictive of service use, even once limited to persons with at least one visit. Even with differences in other PEN variables taken into account, African-Americans were much less likely to receive dental cleanings, restorative dentistry and fixed prosthodontic services, and were much more likely to have a tooth extracted. Household income was predictive of receipt of fixed prosthodontic services, but not other service categories.
Gilbert
Gregg H
GH
Department of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-0007, USA.
Shelton
Brent J
BJ
Duncan
R Paul
RP
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D015438:Health Behavior; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires