| Summary: | Introduction
Utilization of dental services is recognized as important for the prevention and management of dental diseases. Community-based studies on dental service utilization patterns are sparse in African countries like Nigeria. This study describes factors influencing dental service utilization patterns among adult residents in Lagos, Nigeria.
Methods
Based on a cross-sectional design and utilizing a multi-stage sampling approach, 400 rural and urban participants participated in this study. Data collection was via interviewer administered questionnaires. Factors assessed included predisposing, enabling and need factors. Data management and analysis were carried out using SPSS version 23. The outcome of interest was dental service utilization. Pearson’s chi-squared and logistic regression analyses ascertained associations.
Results
The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 35.51 (±11.16) years. We observed that 60.8% (95% CI: 55.8–65.6%) of the respondents had never utilized dental health services, 28.5% (95% CI: 24.1–33.2%) had their last dental visit >12 months preceding the study, while 10.8% (95% CI: 7.9–14.2) had a last dental visit ≤12 months preceding the study. Respondents aged ≥56 years and clerical workers/skilled artisans as well as unskilled artisans/manual laborer’s had lower odds of utilization. For enabling factors, urban dwelling was associated with significantly lower odds of non-utilization of dental services (OR=0.06; 95% CI: 0.04–0.10); while for need factors, having had an extraction done (OR=1.48; 95% CI: 1.23–2.07) and having a dental complaint in the previous year (OR=16.56; 95% CI: 10.03–27.34) were significantly associated with higher odds of non-utilization.
Conclusions
Our study highlights the disparities in oral health access for the aged, rural residents, the financially deprived, unskilled workers, with a low education level, and those that had oral health complaints. Institution of policies should focus on increasing access to preventive oral health care in rural areas, increasing public oral health funding, and the inclusion of primary oral health components in the existing primary healthcare system.
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