Socioeconomic and Geographical Influences on Primary Dental Care Preferences in a Population of Young Children

Objective: To compare the socioeconomic profiles of children registered in the GDS, with those using the CDS services and unregistered children. Secondly to examine the effects of socioeconomic status on travelling to access primary dental care, and finally to map out the location of unregistered children in relation to primary dental care services.

Setting: The study was carried out in 1998 in Ellesmere Port in the North West of England.

Subjects And Materials: The study population was all children younger than 6 years who used primary dental care services in, or were residents of, Ellesmere Port. The study population was categorized into those registered with a GDS dentist, those using CDS services and those unregistered by matching GDS and CDS data to the HA population register. Socioeconomic status was measured using the Super Profiles geodemographic classification. The relationship between service preferences and travelling to access primary dental care with socioeconomic status were compared using cross-tabulations and chi square tests.

Results: There was a significant socioeconomic trend evident in the use of dental services. Two thirds of those using CDS services came from the most deprived area types. Of those who were unregistered half lived in the most deprived area types compared with one third of those registered with the GDS. Those who travelled into Ellesmere Port to access primary dental care were significantly more likely to live in an affluent area. Unregistered patients were homogeneously spread across the town.

Conclusions: The ability to match GDS and CDS data to the HA population register is essential to understand how dental services are used by the local population. Children from deprived areas are more likely to use the CDS and a service local to their homes, therefore primary dental care services for deprived communities have to be provided locally.