Parents' willingness to pay for fissure sealant and class I composite filling: A cross-sectional study

This study aimed to ascertain and compare parental willingness to pay (WTP) for preventive fissure sealant (FS) and curative class I composite filling (CF) services at a private university hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study used structured, questionnaire-based, face-to-face interviews to determine the WTP for FS and CF therapy among 354 parents attending dental hospitals affiliated with a private university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied to compare the differences in WTP costs between the 2 services across different groups, while linear regression analysis predicted the socioeconomic, oral health attitude, and oral health care system characteristics influencing WTP. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25 (Armonk). The average WTP for FS was 92.94 Saudi Arabian Riyals, whereas for CF, it was 144.35 Saudi Arabian Riyals, indicating a statistically significant difference between the 2 treatments (P < .001). Interviewees' sex, family size, socioeconomic status, and previous dental experience were significant predictors of their WTP for FS (P < .05). Various factors, including home type, maternal occupation, socioeconomic level, the child's previous dental experiences, and health insurance, significantly predicted WTP for CF (P < .05). Parents showed a greater willingness to pay for CF than for FS, indicating a preference for CF over FS. The willingness to pay for CF and FS was influenced by socioeconomic characteristics, prior dental experience, and health insurance status of the children.