Rambabu Tanikonda, Koneru Suneetha
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Vishnu Dental College and Hospital, Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Department of Periodontics, Vishnu Dental College and Hospital, Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2018 Aug 2;7:99. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_193_17. eCollection 2018.
The aim and objective of this study was to sort out the reasons for use and nonuse of dental services among people visiting a private dental hospital in urban India.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 1800 people, aged 18-65 years, visiting a multispecialty dental hospital in urban India. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about the history of dental visits and reasons for use and nonuse of dental services.
For a majority of the people (45%), time since the last dental visit was more than 2 years, and the main reason for visiting a dentist was dental pain (38%). Majority of the people had received restoration of teeth in their previous dental visit (46%). The major reason cited for not visiting a dentist was lack of knowledge toward dental problems and their consequences (30%). Only few people visited dentists for preventive reasons. More patients with better educational levels visited dentists than patients with poor educational status.
Majority of the people visited dentists when their problem was severe enough to have a dental appointment. Dental practitioners across locations should also educate the patients regarding the importance of regular dental care, discuss barriers for dental care, and promote attitudinal changes toward a positive health-seeking behavior.
本研究的目的是梳理印度城市一家私立牙科医院就诊人群中使用和未使用牙科服务的原因。
对印度城市一家多专科牙科医院的1800名年龄在18 - 65岁之间的人群进行了描述性横断面研究。使用自填式问卷收集有关牙科就诊史以及使用和未使用牙科服务原因的数据。
大多数人（45%）自上次牙科就诊以来的时间超过2年，就诊的主要原因是牙痛（38%）。大多数人在上次牙科就诊时接受了牙齿修复（46%）。未看牙医的主要原因是对牙齿问题及其后果缺乏了解（30%）。只有少数人因预防原因看牙医。教育水平较高的患者比教育程度较低的患者看牙医的人数更多。
大多数人在牙齿问题严重到足以预约看牙医时才去就诊。各地的牙科从业者还应向患者宣传定期牙科护理的重要性，讨论牙科护理的障碍，并促进态度转变以形成积极的寻求健康行为。
