Shifts between use and non-use of dental services among young Danish adults over a 3-year period.

Utilization of dental services among three groups of young adults was studied longitudinally. Each year from age 16 to age 19, participants were defined as users or non-users of alternative dental programs. Dental programs were taking place with public dental health service clinics (n = 386), with private dental practitioners, free of charge (n = 161), and with private dental practitioners, partially reimbursed by health insurance (n = 261). The paper analyzes whether the pattern of utilization of the last two groups might be described by a Markovian model defining use or non-use of dental care each of 3 years as two mutually exclusive Markovian states. Contingency table analysis of the relationships of the utilization status and sex, social group, and delivery program showed that the utilization pattern could not be described by a Markovian model. Conversely, strong relationships between 1-yr user status and 3-yr user status was found. Implications in relation to the prevailing dental health care policy emphasizing regular dental care and continuity between child dental health care and young adult dental programs are discussed.