Parental factors associated with regular use of dental services by second-year secondary school students in Quebec

The aim of this study was to identify the parental factors associated with regular use of dental services by second year secondary school students in Quebec. Data were collected in 1996-97, as part of a provincial survey on the dental health of Quebec students. A stratified probabilistic sample of 1,351 students, representative at the provincial level, was obtained. Data about frequency of use of dental services, parents' socio-economic characteristics, dental insurance (private and public) and parents' utilization of dental services were selected for this study. Half of the students used dental services regularly (i.e., once every 6 months). Multivariate analysis showed that the strongest parental factors associated with regular use were (in decreasing order of importance) the date of the mother's most recent dental visit, dental insurance, household income and the date of the father's most recent dental visit. After adjustment for the parents' socio-economic characteristics and the availability of dental insurance, students with one parent (particularly the mother) who had visited the dentist within the previous year had better odds of using dental services every 6 months, as recommended by professional standards.