Associations between Dental Checkups and Unmet Dental Care Needs: An Examination of Cross-Sectional Data from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018)

Abstract

To identify gender- and age-related associations between adult dental checkups and unmet dental care needs, we analyzed data of 14,000 participants, from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018). Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and interviews. The complex sample chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that 31.7% of participants had unmet dental care needs. Within the previous 12 months, 56.5% did not undertake dental checkups, and 29.3% did not use a dental service. Odds ratios (ORs) of the unmet dental needs were 8.87 (confidence interval (CI) = 7.80–10.09, p < 0.001) for those who did not use dental services and 1.28 (CI = 1.13–1.44, p < 0.001) for those who did not have dental checkups. Significant age-dependent associations between those not receiving dental checkups and the rate of unmet dental care included men and women aged 50–59 years and women ≥70 years. However, unmet dental care needs for men aged ≥70 years not undergoing dental checkups were not statistically significant (p = 0.311). Overall, it was found that the use of dental service and dental checkups were the influencing factors for unmet dental care needs.