Use of dental services among older Cantonese migrants in Melbourne

Objectives: Migrants constitute a large proportion of the Australian population. Despite this, limited research has been undertaken to address the oral health issues of people born overseas. Thus, current data preclude conclusions about the oral health issues among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups living in Australia. This is particularly true for older adults (>65 years of age). This paper describes the use of dental health services of ambulant China-born, 55 years or older adults, living in Melbourne.

Methods: 101 participants completed a questionnaire and undertook an oral examination. Recency of dental visits was related to whether or not a participant used a dental care service within the 12 months prior to the survey. The theoretical framework for studying dental services utilization corresponded to an expansion of the Andersen and Newman model. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors for use of dental care.

Results: 66.3% of respondents had used oral health care services in the previous year. The most frequently identified barriers to use of dental services included: cost, length of waiting lists, and language. In multivariate analyses, recent use of oral services was associated with age, dental status, self-efficacy, living arrangements, oral health knowledge, level of awareness of dental services in the community, means of transportation, perceived need for dental care, and oral health beliefs. These variables explained 53% of the variability in recency of use of oral health services.

Conclusion: Comparing these findings with existing data on oral health of older adults in Australia, the participants in this study appear to have slightly higher attendance thus questioning assumptions regarding the use of dental services by CALD population groups. The findings also highlight the need for action to reduce structural barriers for older CALD people seeking oral health care, as well as for the need to collect information in order to identify the factors that influence the use of oral health services by older Australian residents of CALD background.

Study funded with a grant from the Australian Dental Research Foundation (Ref:45/2006).