Abstract
Abstract Background: There has been a lot of interest in understanding oral health care utilization behavior as it is important for the delivery of effective oral health care. Identifying the barriers to dental services is one of the basic steps to improving the public health. Aim: We aimed to determine the barriers affecting the utilization of dental services in dental institutes. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among the patients attending the outpatient department of dental institute during the year 2023 among the 364 subjects and the data were collected using a specially designed and pretested questionnaire. The data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0. Results: It was seen that the majority of the participants agreed that cost (55%) was identified as the most imperative factor affecting dental services followed by the dentist-patient relationship at a statistically significant level (P = 0.0001). Conclusion: The foremost barriers to dental care utilization were cost, fear, and organization. However, the policies should be fair and impartial as policymakers, administrators, and insurance organizations play a key role in the health care system.
Published Version
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