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Self‐reported emergency room visits for dental problems
Author(s) -
Quiñonez C
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of dental hygiene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.674
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1601-5037
pISSN - 1601-5029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-5037.2009.00416.x
Subject(s) - medicine , logistic regression , dental insurance , dental care , telephone survey , family medicine , telephone interview , medical emergency , dental trauma , descriptive statistics , emergency medicine , dentistry , statistics , mathematics , social science , marketing , sociology , business
To cite this article:
Int J Dent Hygiene9 , 2011; 17–20
DOI: 10.1111/j.1601‐5037.2009.00416.x
Quiñonez C. Self‐reported emergency room visits for dental problems. Abstract: Objective: To estimate the prevalence of hospital emergency room visits for dental problems not associated with trauma in Canada, and to explore the characteristics that influence such visits. Methods: Data were collected through a cross‐sectional and retrospective national telephone interview survey of 1005 Canadians aged 18 years and over using random digit dialling. Participants were asked if they had ever visited a hospital emergency room for a dental problem not associated with trauma. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were undertaken. Results: A total of 54 people, or 5.4% of the sample reported having to visit an ER in the past for a dental problem not associated with trauma. Income, painful aching in one’s mouth in the previous month, and having to spend a day in bed because of a dental problem in the last 2 weeks, appear to be the dominant predictors of this outcome. Conclusions: Access to dental insurance or public care mitigates the use of hospital care for dental problems that are best treated in the dental care setting.