SERVICE PROVISION AMONG ADULT PUBLIC DENTAL SERVICE PATIENTS - BASE-LINE DATA FROM THE COMMONWEALTH DENTAL-HEALTH PROGRAM

Patients using publicly funded dental care have been reported to have frequent emergency visits and extractions; however, reports have been based on data from a limited number of sites around Australia. The aim s of this study were to protide baseline data at the beginning of the Commonwealth Dental Health Program to describe the service characteris tics of patients receiving publicly funded dental care, and to analyse factors associated with extraction of teeth. In collaboration with st ate and territory government health departments, data were collected o n patient characteristics, visit details and services received by a cr oss-sectional sample of adult patients receiving dental care in Queens land in October 1993, in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, T asmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory f rom March to April 1994, and in Western Australia in October 1994. Dat a were available for 17 653 dental visits (89.4 per cent were dentate, 56.6 per cent were female, 69.1 per cent were from capital cities, an d 38.0 per cent visited for an emergency). For dentate persons, logist ic regression showed that factors associated with extractions were: ag e (<30 years odds ratio (OR) = 1.28, reference 30+ years), sex (male O R = 1.37, reference female), indigenous persons (indigenous OR = 2.56, reference nonindigenous), visit type (emergency OR = 4.70, reference nonemergency), and location (noncapital OR = 1.29, reference capital c ity). In publicly funded dental care, retention of teeth might be enha nced through changes in visit patterns, particularly for younger, male , indigenous and rural patients. Improved access for care is needed to achieve more desirable visit patterns, which would include: less emer gency care and more planned care, shorter waiting times for nonemergen cy care, and fewer extractions.