Findings on Dentistry Detailed by Researchers at Korea University (Changes in dental care access upon health care benefit expansion to include…

Health & Medicine Week

Findings on Dentistry Detailed by Researchers at Korea University (Changes in dental care access upon health care benefit expansion to include scaling)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Week -- A new study on Dentistry is now available. According to news reporting from Seoul, South Korea, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a policy change to expand Korean National Health Insurance (KNHI) benefit coverage to include scaling on access to dental care at the national level. A nationally representative sample of 12,794 adults aged 20 to 64 years from Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2010-2014) was analyzed."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Korea University, "To examine the effect of the policy on the outcomes of interest (unmet dental care needs and preventive dental care utilization in the past year), an estimates-based probit model was used, incorporating marginal effects with a complex sampling structure. The effect of the policy on individuals depending on their income and education level was also assessed. Adjusting for potential covariates, the probability of having unmet needs for dental care decreased by 6.1% and preventative dental care utilization increased by 14% in the post-policy period compared to those in the pre-policy period (2010, 2012). High income and higher education levels were associated with fewer unmet dental care needs and more preventive dental visits. The expansion of coverage to include scaling demonstrated to have a significant association with decreasing unmet dental care needs and increasing preventive dental care utilization."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "However, the policy disproportionately benefited certain groups, in contrast with the objective of the policy to benefit all participants in the KNHI system."

For more information on this research see: Changes in dental care access upon health care benefit expansion to include scaling. Journal of Periodontal & Implant Science, 2016;46(6):405-414 (see also Dentistry).

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting H.J. Park, Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Korea University College of Health Sciences, Seoul, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include J.H. Lee, S. Park and T.I Kim.

Keywords for this news article include: Asia, Seoul, Dentistry, South Korea.