Factors related to missed and cancelled dental appointments among adolescents in Norway

The aim of this study was to explore possible explanatory factors related t o high frequency of missed/cancelled dental appointments during the age gro up 12-18 yr. A total of 754 20 yr olds completed a questionnaire including variables measuring demographics, occupation (school/job), attendance patte rn, attitudes to dentists, opinion about importance of dental treatment, an d the psychometric scales Dental Fear Scale (DFS), Dental Beliefs Survey (D BS) and Geer Fear Scale (GFS). Based on written consents, the following dat a were recorded from their dental records: the total number of scheduled ap pointments, the number of missed and cancelled appointments and the individ ual caries experience of those in the age group 12-18 yr. A total of 124 su bjects who had missed/cancelled 20% or more of their dental appointments du ring this age were defined as a target group. A stepwise regression model i ndicated that the likelihood of being included in the target group increase d by a factor of 6.0 if the subject had forgotten dental appointments durin g the last 5 yr, by a factor of 3.5 for working or without specified occupa tion (as opposed to attending school), by a factor of 2.7 for negative beli efs of dentists, and by a factor of 2.1 for high caries experience.