Reasons for seeking dental care among adults at an academic dental centre and the associated factors
- Author:
Azlan Jaafar
1
Author Information
1. Department of Periodontology and Community Oral Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Collective Name:Wan Mohamad Nasir; Nazirah Ab Mumin; Nur Najwa Athirah Elias; Muhaimin Afnan Mohd Sabri
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Dental care;
prevention;
reason for care;
socio-demographic;
utilisation.
- From:Archives of Orofacial Sciences
2018;13(2):104-111
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
One of the roles expected of dental personnel is to promote dental seeking behaviour to the public. It is
to ensure that adults maintain an optimum number of teeth for overall health and quality of life by enabling them to
eat, speak and socialise without pain, discomfort or embarrassment. The objective of this study was to determine
the reasons for seeking dental care and the factors that influence this decision among adult patients. This was a
retrospective study of clinical records among patients of 18 years old and above who attended Universiti Sains
Islam Malaysia (USIM) Dental Polyclinic, an academic dental centre, for the first time from January 2015 to
December 2016. Socio-demographic data on age, gender and occupation as well as the reason for the visit were
retrieved from the clinical records. Analysis of data was conducted using SPSS software version 21.0 and the pvalue was set at p<0.05. A total of 344 patient clinical records were retrieved. The most common reasons for the
visit was dental check-up (18.6%), followed by scaling (15.7%) and toothache (14.2%). The reasons for the visit
was further categorised into curative (63%) and preventive dental care (37%). A significant association was found
between the reason of seeking dental care with age (p<0.001) and gender (p=0.030). This study indicated a
tendency for young adults and female patients seeking preventive dental care. The findings of this study would
provide the input in designing the preventive oral health programmes and activities.
- Full text:1.2018my0161.pdf
