Access to dental care and its barriers in 6‒14-year-old children reported by their parents in Isfahan

Access to and equal distribution of healthcare services are one of the main goals of any public health service and the patient satisfaction is an important factor in evaluating these goals. The purpose of this study was to assess barriers to the accessibility of and the satisfaction of parents of 6‒14-year-old children with these services in Isfahan in 2011. This descriptive study was carried out on 390 Isfahani parents with 6‒14-year-old children. Data was collected through a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire consisted of questions on demographic data, the general oral health status in children, the general healthcare behavior, barriers to access to dental services, availability of and access to such services and parental satisfaction with dental services in their children. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis using SPSS software (α=0.05). Based on this study, 78% of children had access to dental care and 22.1% faced barriers, with the main barriers consisting of the high cost of dental treatments, insufficient dental insurance coverage and dental fears in children. The average satisfaction rate with dental services was 48%. Dental visits in 22% were due to regular dental checkups and 68% for dental and gingival problems. According to this study, the rate of access to dental care in the samples was over 70%. The main barriers to access to dental services based on parents’ reports were the cost of dental care, insufficient dental insurance coverage and dental fear. Half of the parents were satisfied with dental services provided for their children.