BARRIERS IN UTILIZATION OF DENTAL SERVICES AMONG CHENNAI POPULATION, TAMIL NADU, INDIA A CROSS SECTIONAL SURVEY

Delfin Lovelina Francis,* Kumara Raja Balasubramanian, Logeshwaran Ravikumar, Lavanya Devi Rajendiran and Chitraa R. Chandran

ABSTRACT

Aim: To identify the barriers in utilization of dental services among urban population of Chennai city, India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among populations residing in the urban areas of Chennai district, Tamil Nadu, India. Data were collected from 420 individuals who were selected through systematic random sampling. Data on barriers for utilization of dental services were collected by means of self-administered questionnaire. The results were analyzed by descriptive statistics and Chi‑square test using SPSS version 19. All tests were set at a 0.05 significance level. Results: Majority of study participants 58.3% were females and the mean age of the study population were 39 ± 3.18 years with an age range of 20-67 years. The most commonly reported reason for not seeking dental care was " Didn’t have any dental problem” by 190 (46.4%) followed by “Lack of time” by116 (27.6%) and “Dental problem was not serious condition” by 036(08.6%)” Conclusions: The highly reported reasons for non-utilization of dental service in this study were “Did not have any dental problem” indicating the low felt need among study subjects in that area.

Keywords: Barriers, Dental health services, India.