Characteristics of Individuals in Japan Who Regularly Manage Their Oral Health by Having a Family Dentist: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey

Abstract

Dental healthcare systems may differ between countries; however, having a family dentist is generally important for proper oral health management. This study aims to analyze the proportion of people in Japan who have a family dentist, and their characteristics. A nationwide web-based survey with 3556 participants (1708 men and 1848 women) showed that 45.6% of men and 54.1% of women had a family dentist (FD group). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that men in the FD group mostly belonged to older age groups (≥70 s, OR: 2.41), received higher household incomes (≥8000 K JPY, OR: 1.47), brushed their teeth three or more times daily (OR: 1.60), practiced habitual interdental cleaning (OR: 3.66), and fewer lived in rural areas (towns and villages, OR: 0.52). Regarding the women, the majority belonged to older age groups (60 s, OR: 1.52; ≥70 s, OR: 1.73), practiced habitual interdental cleaning (OR: 3.68), and fewer received lower household incomes (<2000 K JPY, OR: 0.61). These results suggest that despite Japan being a country with a public insurance coverage system for both men and women, having a family dentist is associated with disparities in individual socioeconomic factors, particularly age and household income.

People’s Willingness to Pay for Dental Checkups and the Associated Individual Characteristics: A Nationwide Web-Based Survey among Japanese Adults

“…In addition, the non-RDC group responded with significantly lower WTP values for dental checkups than the RDC group. Several previous studies have shown that income limitations are a barrier to regular dental attendance [8][9][10][11], and the results of this study support these previous findings from the perspective of economic evaluation of dental checkups. Based on these findings, it can be implied that compared to the RDC group, there is a limitation to the maximum amount that can be paid for dental checkups within a wide age range in the non-RDC group and that this may be associated with economic background factors; hence, this suggests the need for policy interventions.…”

“…Moreover, the results of this study showed that men had higher WTP values for dental checkups than women. Previous studies have shown that women are more likely to have an increased awareness of oral health than men [11,36]. However, according to a report by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the income of working men is about 2.1 times that of working women [31], and the reason for this is reportedly due to the differences in employment positions and length of service between men and women [37].…”

“…Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocated by the United Nations in 2015 [40], and the Japanese medical insurance system may be considered to be achieving UHC. However, several Japanese studies have suggested that income limitations may affect access to dental services [8,11]. Therefore, the establishment of a system that allows people to receive dental checkups without copayment, using public funds and other financial resources, may result in improved access to dental services [41,42].…”

“…In countries with extensive dental insurance policies, the use of insurance coverage contributes to an increase in dental service utilization [5][6][7]. Moreover, studies in several countries have shown that an individual's economic situation is one of the factors associated with access to dental services [8][9][10][11]. That is, even if they perceive the need for a specific dental service, their decision depends on their own income limitations and whether they are willing to spend resources for that dental healthcare service.…”

Association between the number of teeth and incident pre-diabetes among middle-aged adults with periodontal disease: a retrospective cohort analysis of Japanese claims data

“…42 Additionally, an investigation of Japanese subjects revealed that having a family dentist was associated with socioeconomic status. 43 Our present findings may thus have been affected by selection bias, and their generalisability is therefore limited. Notably, however, the Specific Health Checkup introduced a new questionnaire item in 2018 about chewing ability.…”