Abstract
BACKGROUND: For patients with a reduced number of remaining teeth, receiving dental check-ups regularly is important to continue oral health maintenance. However, few studies have evaluated the willingness to pay (WTP) for dental check-ups among those with a reduced number of teeth. We determined the WTP for dental check-ups and investigated the socioeconomic factors associated with high and low WTP among Japanese adults with < 20 remaining teeth, based on whether they have dental check-ups on a routine basis. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a web-based survey in March 2024. Overall, 830 study participants (men and women aged 50-74 years) with 1-19 remaining teeth were randomly sampled from the registrants of an online research company in Japan. The participants were categorized into two groups: those who had (DCR group, 445 participants) and those who had not undergone dental check-ups regularly (non-DCR group, 385 participants). After excluding protest zero responses, the WTP values for dental check-ups in each group were calculated and compared. A negative binomial regression model was used to evaluate the factors associated with high and low WTP values. RESULTS: The sample for analysis included 442 and 378 participants in the DCR and non-DCR groups, respectively. The median (mean) WTP values for dental check-ups were 3,000 (3,559) Japanese Yen (JPY) and 2,000 (2,778) JPY in the DCR and non-DCR groups, respectively. Multivariate analysis indicated that in the DCR group, living in the urban area (prevalence ratio [95% confidence intervals]: 1.23 [1.06-1.43]) statistically significantly positively predicted WTP values. For the non-DCR group, a household income of 2-4 (1.48 [1.09-2.00]), 6-8 (1.50 [1.03-2.20]), and > 8 million JPY (1.47 [1.00-2.16]) statistically significantly positively predicted WTP values. CONCLUSIONS: Those with a reduced number of remaining teeth and who did not undergo dental check-ups regularly expressed a lower WTP for dental check-ups. This factor was positively correlated with household income. To encourage dental service utilization among these individuals, policies that institutionalize regular dental check-ups with reduced co-payments will need to be implemented.