Psychosocial Determinants of Poor Dental Attendance Among Young Mexican-Identifying Adults in California

Objective: Engagement in preventive dental care is a complex health behaviour and is determined by multiple factors. The study aimed to understand the association of psychosocial determinants with poor dental attendance.

Methods: Survey data from 333 Mexican-identifying adults in California aged 21-40-year were analysed. Poor dental attendance was a composite of time since last dental visit and reason for visit. Responses of 'more than 1 year ago' for last dental visit, or 'something was wrong, bothering or hurting/emergency dental problem' as the reason for last dental visit were categorised as poor dental attendance. Psychosocial determinants including dental anxiety assessed using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale, participant reported quality of provider interactions, and perceived social support were assessed. Logistic regression analyses examined associations after accounting for covariates.

Results: Over half (58%) had poor dental attendance. Among those with poor dental attendance, 22% had high dental anxiety, 41% perceived low quality of dental explanation, and 48% reported provider occasionally/never checked patient understanding. Participants with high anxiety had twice the odds of poor dental attendance (OR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.01-4.22) than those with low dental anxiety. Additionally, those reporting that providers did not explain oral health status or treatments well had two times higher odds of poor dental attendance than those reporting adequate explanation (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.11-3.83). Checking patient understanding or perceived social support was not significantly associated with dental attendance.

Conclusion: Dental anxiety and poor provider interactions affect use of dental services. Interventions targeting dental staff should prioritise enhancing communication skills and checking patient understanding to improve their dental attendance.