[Social inequalities in the demand for dental care].
BACKGROUND
Despite excellent general health indices, Quebec is in a difficult situation concerning oral health: tooth loss remains at a high level in adults and reveals important social inequalities. The objective of this research was to show that dental health inequalities reflect inequalities in the demand for dental care.


METHODS
For the Dental Health Survey of Quebec 1998-1999, 9930 parents of children aged 5 to 8 years were randomly selected across Quebec and received a questionnaire at their home on the demand for dental care. Among them, 8430 adults completed and sent back the questionnaire (responses rate: 85%). After excluding edentulous persons, the sample was reduced to 6585 parents aged 30 to 44 years.


RESULTS
The majority of respondents (76.4% of women and 72.8% of men) visit the dentist in a preventive manner rather than wait until dental problems occur. However, our study shows important disparities: the proportion of preventive attenders increases as income increases. A multiple logistic regression model suggests that there are financial as well as cultural barriers in dental care access.


CONCLUSIONS
The proportion of preventive attenders is high in Quebec and allows practitioners to adopt a preventive management of dental caries. Social disparities are high however, and are associated with financial as well as cultural barriers that need to be reduced.
Bedos
C
C
Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé, Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Université de Montréal, Canada. christophe.bedos@mcgill.ca
Brodeur
J-M
JM
Benigeri
M
M
Olivier
M
M
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D018865:Dental Research; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011792:Quebec; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires