NON-DENTIST DENTURE SERVICES UTILIZATION IN THAILAND: RELATED FACTORS AND OUTCOMES

Abstract

Background: Unmet denture demand from dentists led denture wearers to seek denture service from non-dentist (ND). Reported complaints about obtained denture service from ND are inflammation, swelling, pain on chewing, and bad odor. Objective: To assess differences in population characteristics and outcomes between ND and dentist denture service users. Materials and methods: 165 cases obtained denture from ND and 688 controls from dentist were matched with sex, educational level attainment, work status, and health insurance. All had been using dentures for not more than 2 years. Participants were recruited from four provinces. Controls were from hospitals or private practices, while cases were from community areas. Data were collected by one interviewer and one examiner. Participants were asked of socio-eco-demographic characteristics, reasons to obtain recent denture and reasons for choosing this denture provider, denture service characteristics, and rated their denture service and denture satisfactions. Dentures were assessed and oral cavity was examined. Results: Population characteristics : the following factors are more likely to be associated with obtaining denture from ND than from dentist: living in non-municipal area, utilizing mobile-service, knowing information directly from provider, perceiving that served nearby accommodation, accepting out-of–pocket payments for denture, and choosing ND provider because short denture –fabricating period. For outcomes: Denture wearers satisfied on denture and denture service from dentist more than ND. Partial denture fabricated by dentist has more acceptable aspects than ND. Conclusion: Even dentures fabricated by ND are worse than dentist and not free of charge though denture wearers still utilized ND denture service because of inconvenience of public facilities. To solve this problem, Thailand has to reallocate dental resources, shortening denture queue and denture fabricating procedure, and provide more easy-to-access public facilities.