Characteristics of dental attendance among Lithuanian middle-aged university employees.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to evaluate and describe the dental attendance patterns and to characterize the factors that encourage preventive dental visits among 35- to 44-year-old university employees in Lithuania.


METHODS
A questionnaire survey was conducted anonymously among the 35- to 44-year-old employees (n=862) of four universities in Lithuania in 2005. The response rate was 64% (n=553). Data on their most recent dental visit, habitual dental attendance, and self-reported dental health were collected. Gender, marital status, education, and income levels served as background factors. Of the respondents, 79% were women, and 82% held a university degree.


RESULTS
Of all the respondents, 75% reported having their most recent dental visit within the previous 12 months; 19% indicated a preventive check-up as the reason for it (15%--self-decided visit and 4%--dentist's recall). The most common treatments received were fillings (75%), scaling and cleaning (28%), and endodontic treatment (22%). Analysis of the data about habitual dental attendance showed that preventive check-up as the main reason for attendance was more commonly reported by women (OR=1.7), among those who indicated having lost fewer teeth (OR=1.5), reported higher incomes (OR=1.4), and who indicated a shorter time interval since their most recent dental visit (OR=1.3).


CONCLUSIONS
Dental problem seems to be a dominant reason for dental attendance in Lithuania where both dentists' and patients' behavior weakly reflects preventive orientation.
Department of Dental and Oral Pathology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Eiveniu 2, Kaunas, Lithuania. zana.sakalauskiene@med.kmu.lt
Zana
Z
Sakalauskiene
Vita
V
Maciulskiene
Miira M
MM
Vehkalahti
Ricardas
R
Kubilius
Heikki
H
Murtomaa
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004493:Education; D004708:Endodontics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011313:Preventive Dentistry; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities