scholarly journals Barriers of utilisation of dental services among children and adolescent: A systematic review

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Avlien Farlina ◽  
Diah Ayu Maharani

Introduction: Underutilisation of dental services among children and adolescent is a worldwide problem that increases caries prevalence. Younger children are less likely to receive dental care and, thus, experience oral diseases more often. This systematic review was aimed to explore the barriers of utilisation of dental services among children and adolescent. Methods: The literature search was conducted in the electronic database of Pubmed©/Medline©. The literature exclusion criteria were adults and qualitative study. Keywords were verified in MeSH. Boolean “AND” and “NOT” was used to specify the search. Twenty-four literature were filtered from Pubmed©, and twenty-three literature fit the inclusion criteria. Result: The result revealed that low-income families, minority ethnic, and disability condition have lower dental care utilisation. Conclusion: The identified potential determinants of oral health and dental care utilisation among children and adolescent are economic barriers, uninsurance, and availability of dental service providers.Keywords: Dental care, dental services, utilisation, barrier, children, adolescent.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazirah Ab Mumin ◽  
Zamros Yuzadi Mohd Yusof ◽  
Jamaludin Marhazlinda ◽  
Unaizah Obaidellah

Abstract Background The Malaysian School Dental Service (SDS) was introduced to provide systematic and comprehensive dental care to school students. The service encompasses promotive, preventive, and, curative dental care. This study aimed to undertake a process evaluation of the SDS based on the perspectives of government secondary school students in Selangor, Malaysia. Methods The study adopted a qualitative approach to explore the opinions of secondary school students on the SDS implementation in their schools. Data from focus group discussions involving Form Two (14-year-olds) and Form Four (16-year-olds) students from the selected schools were transcribed verbatim and coded using the NVivo software before framework method analysis was conducted. Results Among the strengths of the SDS were the convenience for students to undergo annual oral examination and dental treatment without having to visit dental clinics outside the school. The SDS also reduced possible financial burdens resulting from dental treatment costs, especially among students from low-income families. Furthermore, SDS helped to improve oral health awareness. However, the oral health education provided by the SDS personnel was deemed infrequent while the content and method of delivery were perceived to be less interesting. The poor attitude of the SDS personnel was also reported by the students. Conclusion The SDS provides effective and affordable dental care to secondary school students. However, the oral health promotion and education activities need to be improved to keep up with the evolving needs of the target audience.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-65
Author(s):  
O.O Osadolor ◽  
◽  
E.A Akaji ◽  
U Otakhoigbogie ◽  
H.C Amuta ◽  
...  

Background: Dental health is often neglected by a vast majority of the population and has contributed to the global burden of oral diseases. Prevention of disease, disability and suffering should be a primary goal of any society that hopes to provide a decent quality of life for its people. Dental care/service utilization is an indispensable facilitator of oral health, as dental caries and gingivitis are preventable with regular access to preventive dental services. Several reasons have been attributed to use and non-use of dental services and include socio-demographic factors such as age, sex, educational attainment, and household income. Objective: To determine dental service utilization of a rural population in South-east Nigeria. Methodology: A cross sectional study of 268 participants was carried out at Ozalla Model Primary Health Centre, Ozalla Health Centre and Umueze Awkunanaw Health Centre located in Ozalla community and Umueze Awkunanaw community respectively. Ethical clearance for this study was sought and obtained. Permission was sought from the head of each health centre, while individual verbal consent was obtained from the respondents before giving out the pretested questionnaire which was interviewer-administered. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Results: 126(47 %) males and 142(53%) females were seen. The age of the participants ranged from 18 - 86 years with a mean age of 32.4 ± 13.3 years. 131(48.9%) were married, 133(49.6%) were single and 4(1.5%) were divorced. 39(14.6%) had only primary level of education, 142(52.6%) secondary, 67(25.0%) tertiary and 21(7.8%) had no formal education. 64(23.9%) had utilized dental service, while 204(76.1%) had not visited a dental clinic (had not utilized dental service). The common reason for dental service utilization was dental pain. The predominant occupation was farming and small scale business/trading. P= 0.038. Conclusion: Dental health was neglected by a vast majority of the participants, The poor utilization of dental service by the respondents could be due to poor awareness, absence of dental insurance, financial constraints , lack of perceived need for dental care, economic difficulties ,socio-demographic factors such as age, sex, educational attainment, and household income. Effort needs to be applied to create better awareness and possibly increase dental clinic attendance. Emphasis should be placed on benefits of utilizing preventive dental services rather than only curative through dental awareness programms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 230-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R. Greenwood ◽  
Alana G. Schnitz ◽  
Judith J. Carta ◽  
Anna Wallisch ◽  
Dwight W. Irvin

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
D Dekel ◽  
S P Zusman ◽  
V Pikovsky ◽  
L Natapov

Abstract Background Dental care for children was included into National Health Insurance Law in 2010 and eligibility age went up gradually to 18 in 2019, providing universal dental care. As a part of dental care reform, community based preventive School Dental Services were extended to preschool children. School dental service (SDS), funded entirely by the State, was extended to younger ages providing supervised tooth brushing module. The national supervised teeth brushing program (STBP) was first implemented in 2015-2016 amongst 3-4 year old children attending 600 nurseries in Israel. Due to the program’s success, it was gradually extended to more nurseries in low socio economic regions across the country, reaching 2200 settings in 2019. The objective of this study was to assess dental health among preschool children participating in the program during the last two years, comparing to those who did not. Methods Participant and non-participant kindergartens were randomly selected in Jewish and Bedouin Arab towns in the Southern district matched according to SES level. DMFT index measuring mean number of decayed, missing and filled teeth was recorded among preschool 5 years-old children. Results 283 children were examined, 157of them Jewish (86 participants in STBP, 71 non-participants) and 126 Bedouins (59 vs 67 respectively). Mean untreated carious teeth (d) was 1.15 vs 1.8 for Jews and 3.22 vs 3.9 for Bedouins. Percent of treated teeth within total caries experience index (f/dmf) was higher in tooth brushing group: 37% vs. 29% for Jews and 23% vs. 8% for Bedouins. Key messages Supervised tooth brushing shows favorable effect. Less carious teeth and more treated caries were recorded in STBP group.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 2115-2120
Author(s):  
Kinga Dorner ◽  
Bernadette Kerekes Mathe ◽  
Andreea Bors ◽  
Cristina Molnar Varlam ◽  
Vanda Roxana Nimigean ◽  
...  

In Romania dental health services are provided mainly through user pays private practices and there is a limited reimbursement of dental services from the government. The economic recession lead to substantial lack of insurance coverage for oral health care of low-income population. The aim of this six-year retrospective study was to assess the prevalence of patients requesting public dental emergency care and to determine the characteristics of dental affections for which emergency interventions were requested in Tirgu-Mures, Romania. During the analyzed period, a total number of 38610 patients were treated in the Emergency Dental Office of Mures County Emergency Hospital. Of the total number of treated emergency patients 8017 (20.76%) were children and 30593 (79.25%) were adults. Significantly more adults requested emergency care than children (p[0.0001). Out of the investigated adults 3051 (9.98%) were aged 60 years or over. The high demand for emergency dental care reflects that dental care in private practices is unaffordable to socially disadvantaged patients and also the need for community based public dental care in Tirgu-Mures.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1953 ◽  
Vol 12 (3S) ◽  
pp. 26-28

WHEN the Study was first projected, its content was a major theme of discussion. It is of interest that the Study Committee unanimously gave children's dental care a high priority among the items for examination. This decision was significant because pediatricians and general practitioners as a group are not particularly interested or wellinformed in this area of medicine. It may have been their very lack of dental knowledge which promoted this part of the Study. The question might be asked, "Is the over-all health of children correlated in any way with the condition of their teeth?" In one of the state reports, a correlation was made between the quality of medical services and dental facilities but this does not answer the question of the true relationship between dental health and over-all health. However, the Committee felt that dental health is generally accepted as an important item in a health program for children. Although the exact cause of tooth decay is not yet determined, it is known that restoration of cavities prolongs the life of the tooth. Areas of Need The findings of the Study do not tell precisely how much dental care is actually required by children in various sections and communities in the country. However, even without exact information on the amount of dental care needed, it is evident that at present not even a minimal amount of dental service can be offered to every child in the United States. The study of dental facilities for children shows that even states and counties which have the highest service ratings are unable to provide adequately for their entire child population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 297
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Goode ◽  
Ha Hoang ◽  
Leonard Crocombe

Objectives The poor oral health of Australians experiencing homelessness negatively affects their quality of life. Better oral health is associated with having annual dental check-ups. Because there is limited peer-reviewed literature describing strategies that improve access to and uptake of dental care by homeless people, in this study we searched the grey literature to discover what strategies are used. Methods The Informit database and Google and Bing search engines were searched using the keywords ‘homeless and oral and dental services’. Bing and Google were searched unrestricted by site and Google was searched for sites ending in ‘org.au’. Searches were restricted to Australia from June 2008 to June 2018. The first 300 websites were read, and those describing or linking to pages describing a strategy that improved access to or uptake of dental care were included in the study. The content of the webpages was evaluated and summarised, with common strategies reported as a narrative description. Results Nineteen programs were described. Common strategies were providing free care, in-reach care, outreach care and the need to work closely with support organisations. Conclusions To improve access to and uptake of dental care by people experiencing homelessness, dental services need to be free and organised in collaboration with support organisations. What is known about the topic? The peer-reviewed literature describing strategies used to improve access to and uptake of dental care by people experiencing homelessness in Australia is limited. The authors could only locate two such studies, one based in Melbourne and one in Brisbane. Both programs had a similar aim, but used different strategies to achieve it, suggesting a lack of consensus about the best way to encourage dental visiting by people experiencing homelessness. What does this paper add? This paper used the grey literature to describe common strategies used in Australia to improve access to and uptake of dental care by people experiencing homelessness. What are the implications for practitioners? Dental service providers aiming to increase access to and uptake of dental care by people experiencing homelessness need to work collaboratively with support organisations and provide care free of charge.


2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
HB Waldman ◽  
D Cannella ◽  
SP Perlman

The proportion and numbers of children living in low income families and without health insurance continues to increase. The magnitude of these problems is considered at localized levels in terms of the impact on the use of dental services.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bussma Ahmed Bugis

Pediatric dental caries is the most common chronic disease among children. Above 40% of the U.S. children aged 2–11 years have dental caries; more than 50% of them come from low-income families. Under dental services of the Medicaid program, children enrolled in Medicaid must receive preventive dental services. However, only 1/5 of them utilize preventive dental services. The purpose of this overview is to measure the impact of Medicaid dental benefits on reducing oral health disparities among Medicaid-eligible children. This paper explains the importance of preventive dental care, children at high risk of dental caries, Medicaid dental benefits, utilization of dental preventive services by Medicaid-eligible children, dental utilization influencing factors, and outcome evaluation of Medicaid in preventing dental caries among children. In conclusion, despite the recent increase of children enrolled in Medicaid, utilizing preventive dental care is still a real challenge that faces Medicaid.


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