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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Impact of insurance scheme on adults' dental check-ups in a developing oral health care system
Fariborz Bayat1, Miira M Vehkalahti, A Hamid Zafarmand
1Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Objectives:
To find out the relationship between dental insurance and demand for dental care, the present study evaluated impact of insurance scheme on adults' dental check-ups in a developing oral health care system.
Methods:
The target population included adults in the city of Tehran where the only telecommunication company provides 90% of the 1.9 million households with a fixed telephone. Of the 1531 subjects who answered the phone call, 224 were outside the target age (under 18), 67 said that they never had visited a dentist, and 221 refused to respond, leaving 1019 subjects in the final sample. Each interview lasted 15 minutes and was carried out using a structured questionnaire with fixed and open-ended questions.
Results:
71% of the subjects reported having dental insurance and 16% having visited a dentist for a check-up; 55%, more women than men, reported having had a dental visit within the past 12 months.
Conclusions:
The present results revealed the positive relationship between insurance and demand for dental care. Those having dental insurance were more likely to go to check-ups despite their generally low rate found in this country with a developing oral health care system. In such countries, health insurance schemes should therefore include obligatory regular dental check-ups to emphasize prevention-oriented dental care.
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