Visitors? experiences of public and private dental care in Sweden in 1992?2012

Abstract

<i>Aim</i> - The aim was to compare adult patients’ experiences of public and private dental care in Sweden over time from the ages of 50 and 70 years, between 1992 and 2012.<p><p>

<i>Materials and methods</i> - Data on visiting patterns, oral health, fees and satisfaction were obtained from a questionnaire study every 5 years in 1992–2012 and analysed by using the Chi-square test and logistic regression. In the present study, the answers given by 6083 respondents in 1992 and 5220 in 2012 were included.<p><p>

<i>Results</i> - Of the 50-year olds, 73.5% had visited the private sector and 26.5% the public sector. In 1992, patients in the public dental service (PDS) had visited their dentists less frequently and experienced having a slightly poorer dental status compared with private patients. After 20 years (2012), the distribution of patients between the two sectors was almost the same (71.4% and 28.8%) and the differences in visiting pattern and dental health persisted. During the study period, 21.6% of the patients changed treatment sector. A small proportion of patients had high treatment costs. A larger proportion of the private sector visitors than the PDS visitors were consistently satisfied with the dental care they had received.<p><p>

<i>Conclusions</i> - As a whole, most adult patients in Sweden were satisfied with their dental care at both public and private clinics.