Willingness of Parents to Pay for Space Maintainer Therapy for their Children

Abstract

Background and Objective: Space maintainers are the most commonly used tools of interceptive orthodontics. Since their benefit is not immediately visible to the parents there is the possibility that they would not be willing to pay for interceptive care.Methodology: 155 families of children who had lost a primary tooth prematurely participated in the study. A short description of the potential benefits of space-maintainers, parents were asked if they are willing to pay the median cost, Parents who are unwilling to pay the median price will have the price reduced by 50 SR until they reached a price they would be willing to pay and for parents who are willing to pay the median price had the price progressively increased by 50 SR until they were no longer willing to pay. Results and conclusion:The results of the study showed that Parents education, nationality and relationship to the patient was not statistically significant, however Family monthly income and WTP value for the space maintainer were associated.

An overview of the methodological aspects and policy implications of willingness-to-pay studies in oral health: a scoping review of existing literature

“…More opportunities may have arisen to undertake participant face-to-face active communication interviews accompanied by more detailed information regarding the desired service(s). Some studies elicited parental WTP for paediatric services [26,34,36,37,46,52,53]. It is worth mentioning that these case results cannot be indicative of patient (child) perceptions, feelings and utilization of services which is an important aspect of the WTP method.…”

“…Twenty-two studies had response rates of more than 70% and 21 reported no rates of participation. Seven studies elicited WTP of parents for paediatric service without taking into consideration children preferences [26,34,36,37,46,52,53]. Data gathering was done by either an interview (28 studies) or a questionnaire (22 studies).…”

Acceptance towards space maintainer in paediatric population with premature primary tooth loss- an institutional study

“…However, despite efforts to retain primary teeth, premature loss of tooth or extraction can be unavoidable due to extensive carious lesions and other reasons (Setia et al, 2013). The safest way to maintain space in the arch and prevent malocclusion is by placement of a space maintainer (Mubaraki et al, 2017).…”

“…Space maintainers are the most commonly used appliance for interceptive orthodontics (Mubaraki et al, 2017). They are indicated to maintain mesiodistal relationship in the arch (Giorgio, 1973;Terlaje and Donly, 2001).…”

“…Given that space maintainers are indicated in children and results of appliance are not immediately visible, there is a possibility of parents or children to not accept treatment. Mubarak et al reported that the main factor affecting parents acceptance towards space maintainer is monthly income (Mubaraki et al, 2017). Another study by Yousef et al reported that 33.8% of patients' parents refuse space maintainers for their children (Al-Dlaigan, 2007).…”