The Use of Dental Services among Older Australians: Does Location Matter?

Based on the National Health Survey of 2005, this study examined the use of dental services among non-institutionalised older Australians. The results of the regression revealed differences in the frequency of dental visits across the states. The greater the public dental health expenditure per capita in each state the more likely residents of that state were to have visited the dentist in the previous year. Older people residing outside major cities experienced the greatest disadvantage. In addition to the socioeconomic factors reported by studies, in Australia inequalities in access to dental health services was associated with urbanicity and Australian states.