Parents' preferences for preventive and curative dental services: A comparison between fissure sealant and composite filling using willingness-to-pay method.

Abstract

The early years of life play a significant role in the lifelong health of humans and parents have an important role in healthcare decision making. Thus, it seems necessary for policymakers and clinicians to be aware of how parents value pediatric health services. Willingness to pay (WTP) is a recommended method for measuring the stated utility of health services/goods or health states. This study aimed to elicit and compare parents' WTP for health services such as fissure sealant and composite filling. An originally developed questionnaire was used to guide interviews with a sample of 290 parents attending a public pediatric healthcare center. Related-samples Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed for comparing the difference in absolute WTP amounts between the two services, and linear regression was used to assess the association between WTP and relevant variables using SPSS version 21. Mean WTP for fissure sealant and filling was 269724 and 555327 Tomans, respectively, and the difference between them was statistically significant (P<.001). Higher WTP amounts found in both services were associated with income levels of 4 and 5 (P<.05). Respondents highly valued the considered services and stated a significantly higher relative preference for filling. Public awareness should be promoted about the importance of prevention of oral health diseases and the attributes of the oral healthcare system services.