Dental Care Utilization for Examination and Regional Deprivation.
OBJECTIVE
Receiving proper dental care plays a significant role in maintaining good oral health. We investigated the relationship between regional deprivation and dental care utilization.


METHODS
Multilevel logistic regression was used to identify the relationship between the regional deprivation level and dental care utilization purpose, adjusting for individual-level variables, in adults aged 19+ in the 2008 Korean Community Health Survey (n=220 258).


RESULTS
Among Korean adults, 12.8% used dental care to undergo examination and 21.0% visited a dentist for other reasons. In the final model, regional deprivation level was associated with significant variations in dental care utilization for examination (p<0.001). However, this relationship was not shown with dental care utilization for other reasons in the final model.


CONCLUSIONS
This study's findings suggest that policy interventions should be considered to reduce regional variations in rates of dental care utilization for examination.
Research Institute for Dental Care Policy, Korean Dental Association, Seoul, Korea.
Cheol-Sin
CS
Kim
Research Institute for Dental Care Policy, Korean Dental Association, Seoul, Korea.
Sun-Young
SY
Han
Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Seung Eun
SE
Lee
Department of Nursing Science, Youngdong University, Youngdong, Korea.
Jeong-Hee
JH
Kang
Department of Preventive Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea ; Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
Chul-Woung
CW
Kim
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003710:Demography; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Dental care; Dental health surveys; Multilevel analysis; Residence characteristics; Utilization