Method: The eligible study population included all 25-year-old Danes, who received a dental examination in 2009. Dental health data from 2009 and 1999, and data on consumption of dental services in 2005-2009, were obtained from public registers in the National Board of Health. Socioeconomic and demographic information was obtained from Statistics Denmark. Data were pooled and the final study population represented 75% of the total cohort (n=15.147). Residential area was divided into four socioeconomic groups based on criteria formulated by the Danish Ministry of Health and Interior affairs (fringe=least affluent and urban=most affluent). Dental health was measured as number of sound teeth at age 15 (ST15) and as change in number of sound teeth from age 15 to 25 (αST15-25). Associations between number of selected dental services in relation to socioeconomic status and dental health were tested by multiple linear regression analysis.
Result: Women, highly educated, from fringe areas received the highest number of dental examinations; meanwhile no significant associations were seen with household income and ST15. Men, low educated, from urban areas and with ST15 > 26 received fewer examinations (beta=-0.69, p<0.001), while those in the same group with ST15 = 0-21 received even fewer examinations (beta=-1.12, p<0.001). Among persons with αST15-25 < -5, low educated rural residents had more tooth extractions than their well-educated counterparts from urban areas (beta=0.52, p<0.01).
Conclusion: Although small variations were found, the results of the study indicate a complex picture of the variations, and that risk groups receive the fewest preventive dental examinations.