Accessing primary dental care in three London boroughs.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate and identify factors that may influence individuals' ability to access primary health care services.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study

SETTING

Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham.

SUBJECTS

A 0.1 per cent random sample of people aged 18 years and over in the population of 626,621 people in the three boroughs.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Demographic as well as psychosocial profile of the sample, perceptions of their dental health needs, accessed dental care.

RESULTS

The results indicated that people believed that their oral health was good. The majority of the sample had attended for dental care within the previous year and were registered with a general dental practitioner. Accessing dental care was related to age, social class, borough of residence, dentate status and dental phobia status. In addition subjects experiencing problems with their teeth gained access to care more readily than others. This was related to social class. Accessing dental care was predicted by dental care being provided by a general dental practitioner, experiencing problems with teeth and not being dentally phobic.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that psychosocial factors together with dental health status can act as determinants when accessing primary dental services. It is considered that family health services authorities should be aware of these influences when developing and monitoring dental health services, in order to make them responsive and sensitive to the needs of the people whom they serve.