DENTAL KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES TOWARDS ORAL HEALTH-CARE AND UTILIZATION OF DENTAL SERVICES AMONG MALE INDUSTRIAL-WORKERS WITH OR WITHOUT AN EMPLOYER-PROVIDED DENTAL BENEFIT SCHEME

In industrialized countries various dental benefit schemes have been i mplemented to improve the utilization of dental services! though few s tudies have demonstrated that effect. Prior to a comprehensive clinica l study in southern Finland, a postal questionnaire survey of male ind ustrial workers (age 38-65 yrs) was conducted to investigate knowledge and attitudes concerning oral health care and whether access to an em ployer-provided dental benefit scheme was associated with the utilizat ion of dental services. The response rate was 81% (n=325) in the subsi dized group and 69% (n=174) in the control group. In both groups, 60% of the subjects had had their last dental visit within a year but 91% of the subsidized workers compared to 79% of the controls had visited a dentist in the past two years (P<0.001). The subjects had similar at titudes towards the importance of regular dental care and its implicat ions for dental and general health. Subsidization explained the dispar ity in the current dental visiting pattern between the groups better t han the possibility of using working hours for dental visits. Backward stepwise logistic regression revealed that the probability of a denta l visit within the past two years was positively associated with acces s to an employer-provided dental benefit scheme: tooth brushing to mai ntain dental health, and number of teeth, and negatively associated wi th number of carious teeth. Our results demonstrate a positive impact of subsidization on the utilization of dental services.