J Korean Acad Oral Health.  2014 Jun;38(2):111-117.

Utilization of dental care among mothers and children from multicultural families

• Lim CY
• Lee HS
• Lee NG
• Ju HJ
• Lee SH
• Oh HW

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to identify the status of dental care utilization among mothers and children from multicultural families and analyzing the related factors.
METHODS
The subjects in this study were 131 mothers from multicultural families and 175 mothers from Korean (control) families who were selected by convenience sampling from the city of Nonsan. The dental care utilization among mothers and children from multicultural families and mothers and children from Korean families were compared. A questionnaire survey was conducted using the self-administration method for mothers from Korean families and by a face-to-face interviewing method for mothers from multicultural families.
RESULTS
The proportion of subjects who visited the dentist's office in the past year was not different between the two groups of mothers. However, this proportion was lower in children from multicultural families than those from Korean families. The factors that influenced the visit to dental clinics were age and spouse's age among multicultural mothers and age, spouse's age, personal perceptions about oral health, and oral health concerns among Korean mothers. The factors that influenced dental clinic visits were mother's career, household income, education level of the mother, children's age, mother's dental clinic visits, mother's perception of children's oral health among multicultural children and father's age, marriage duration of parents, children's age, mother's dental clinical visit, and the mother's concerns about children's oral health among Korean children.
CONCLUSIONS
Multicultural children visit the dental clinic a lot less than Korean children. Social economic factors such as household income, education level affect the use of dental clinic services by multicultural families.

Keyword

Children; Dental services; Mothers; Multicultural family; Utilization

MeSH Terms

Child*
Chungcheongnam-do
Dental Care*
Dental Clinics
Education
Family Characteristics
Humans
Marriage
Mothers*
Oral Health
Parents
Surveys and Questionnaires

Reference

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