Investigation the Consumer Choice in the Use of Dental Services Care Applying Hekman Two-Step Procedure

Considering the health importance in development process of countries, this study investigates factors affecting various types of dental care services participation and related expenditures as one of the most important aspects of oral health. For this reason, a sample of almost 40000 Iranian households in 2016 is selected and the impact of the mentioned factors analyzed using Heckman’s two-stage model. Results indicate that household’s income and education are two importance factors that affect the choice of dentist services and their related expenditure especially in Luxury dental services such as orthodontics and Gum regenerations. Income elasticity of root canal, Inspection and dental extraction are computed 1.04 and 0.0004 respectively. Finally, insurance coverage elasticity of root canal is 0.6, while the same elasticity for inspection is computed about 0.1 and -1 for dental extraction.