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Review
. 2017 Jun;67(3):133-138.
doi: 10.1111/idj.12283. Epub 2017 Jan 12.

Barriers to oral health across selected European countries and the USA

Richard Manski  1 , John Moeller  1
Affiliations
Review

Barriers to oral health across selected European countries and the USA

Richard Manski et al. Int Dent J. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

In this review we consider oral-health access among older adults within and between the USA and various European countries with regard to possible primary financial and modifiable secondary non-financial factors. For older adults, the likelihood of using dental services has been associated, in the health literature, with a multiplicity of factors. These factors are traditionally classified into predisposing, enabling and need categories, and can be further classified into modifiable and non-modifiable subcategories. This raises the question of which single factor or group of factors has the most influence in keeping older adults from seeking care, and how these influences might differ between the USA and various other (European) countries. As it turns out, there is variation in the magnitude of effects across certain measurable potential barriers, but generally it takes a combination of characteristics associated with non-use to have a substantial impact.

Keywords: Dental insurance coverage; Europe; USA; elderly populations; inequalities.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
High and low rates of dental attendance (given as a percentage) among several European countries and the USA.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The percentage gap between high and low rates of dental attendance among several European countries and the USA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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