Factors Affecting Dental Utilization and Dental Expenses in the Economically Active Population: Based on the 2010~2014 Korea Health Panel Data / 치위생과학회지

BACKGROUND: The health of the economically active population contributes to increased corporate productivity by reducing the productivity loss caused by disease and increasing job efficiency, which in turn is a national benefit. Since the economically active population is a concept encompassing workers and a source of economic development for a country, that population's health should be treated with importance not only from a personal standpoint but also at a national level. METHODS: In this study, data of 11,007 adults aged 20 years and older who participate in economic activities were analyzed in the five-year Korea Health Panel Study from 2010 to 2014 including the number of dental visits and dental medical expenses. RESULTS: Factors related to “gender,” “education level,” “age,” “duty category,” “income level,” “employment type,” “national health insurance,” and “chronic disease status” of the economically active population are affected in relation to the number of visits and dental medical expenses. The number of dental visits increased with higher education levels (p<0.001), and the number of visits to the dentist increased with older age (p <0.001). Dental medical expenses were 91,806 Korean won (KRW) more for “white-collar workers” than for “blue-collar workers” (p<0.03), and 127,674 KRW more for “regular workers” than for “atypical workers” (p<0.02). CONCLUSION: When it is necessary to improve policies to enhance the efficiency of the distribution of health and medical resources in the overall balance of the dental health sector, we should try to identify various factors of oral health disorder due to income inequality among the classes according to the country's employment type in order to find ways to reduce the health gap among the social classes.

Clinical efficacy of a two-year oral health programme for infants and toddlers in Singapore

INTRODUCTION@#Dental caries, which is prevalent in Singapore preschoolers, is a disease that has a major impact on children's health and places a high cost on the society and health services. Oral health programmes for young children implemented in some parts of the world have been shown to be effective in the prevention of dental caries. We aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of a two-year oral health programme for infants and toddlers in Singapore.@*METHODS@#90 children and their caregivers participated in the programme, and 64 children, who were 24 months older than the intervention group at the initial visit, were recruited as controls in a quasi-experimental study design. We evaluated the presence of severe early childhood caries (SECC) and dmfs in the control group at the initial visit and in the intervention group after the completion of the two-year programme.@*RESULTS@#Some children in the intervention (7.8%) and control (31.3%) groups (p < 0.001) had SECC (difference 23.5%, 95% confidence interval 11%-36%). A higher percentage of children in the intervention group had dmfs = 0 and habits associated with low risk for caries. The odds of SECC in the control group were three times higher than that for the intervention group, and the effect was significant (p = 0.037) after adjustment for other significant risk factors.@*CONCLUSION@#The preventive oral health programme in Singapore was successful in reducing SECC among infants and toddlers when targeted behaviour modifications were implemented.

Reasons Preventing or Delaying Dental Visits in Taibah University Students.

In order to maintain good oral health and prevent dental problems, regular dental visits are highly recommended. Previous studies have reported reasons preventing or delaying dental visits such as fear of dentist, cost and lack of time. The aims of the study were to asses and identify the obstacles that prevent or delay dental visits among the students of Taibah University in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. It is an analytical cross sectional study where an online questionnaire was distributed to the students of Taibah University. A total of completed 416 questionnaires were used in analysis. The frequency of dental visit was less than 1 every two years with no significant gender difference. Lack of time and cost were reported to be the most common causes that prevented visiting the dental clinic in males and females. While males reported no importance to visit the dentist if there is no pain as the second most common reason. The less commonly reported reasons were the lack of transportation to visit the dentist and I am medically compromised/disable. Lack of transportation was recorded only by females as a barrier preventing dental visit.