Assessment of Dental Care Seeking Behaviour and Attitude among Adults in a Metropolitan City in Southern India- An Observational Study

Introduction: Understanding the factors that promote or impede dental visits is a prerequisite for devising healthcare changes because underuse of dental services is linked to an increased burden of oral disorders.

Aim: The study aimed to comprehensively explore the factors that could have a positive or negative influence on oral health care seeking behaviour among adults in Chennai.

Materials and Methods: The present descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among patients visiting the Outpatient Department (OPD), SRM Dental College, Ramapuram, Chennai, India from April 2019 to January 2020. A structured questionnaire was admistered via both printed and online Google forms to adult patients aged above 18 years. Google forms were shared via WhatsApp social media platform. A total of 503 completed responses were statistically analysed. The Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the association and the strength of association between the various factors and dental visits.

Results: A total of 503 subjects were surveyed of which 75.94% had visited a dentist previously, of which males were 216 and females were 287. The most frequently cited reasons for not visiting a dentist were lack of time (60.23%), high cost (56.06%) and not having dental problems (52.88%). It was observed that higher number of respondents who perceived dental problems as serious or life threatening (65.80%), felt they had poor oral health (2.18%) and need dental treatment (53.87%) had been to the dentist more often in the past. A significant association was observed between dental visits and educational qualification, family structure, time constraints, absence of dental problems, religious beliefs and perceived need for treatment (p-value <0.05).

Conclusion: Among Indian studies, the current study found the highest frequency of dental visits. Dental visits were hampered by the time constraints, high cost of dental treatment and a lack of dental problems. Awareness that regular dental visits enhance good oral health was comprehended and linked to a higher frequency of dental visits. The study highlights the importance of providing affordable, high quality dental care as well as promoting public awareness in order to overcome barriers to dental service utilisation.