title: Dental care utilization and unmet dental needs in older Korean Americans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study explored predictors of dental care utilization and unmet dental needs in older Korean Americans, considering predisposing, enabling (dental insurance, acculturation, and family network), and need (self-rated oral health) variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multivariate regression models were used to evaluate the data from 209 Korean Americans (aged ≥ 60) surveyed in Central Texas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants with strong family networks and fair/poor self-ratings of oral health reported higher numbers of dental visits in the past year. The likelihood of having an unmet dental need increased when participants had less education, a shorter stay in the United States, no dental insurance coverage, lower levels of acculturation, more limited family networks, fair/poor self-ratings of oral health, and fewer numbers of dental visits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings underscore the vulnerability of individuals who are culturally and linguistically isolated and lack family resources, and they highlight the importance of incorporating social and cultural factors in intervention efforts.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA yjang12@austin.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Hyunwoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Tampa, USA.
authors.forename: Nan Sook
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Tampa, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chiriboga
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Miyong T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013781:Texas
keywords: dental care utilization; older Korean Americans; self-rated oral health; unmet dental needs