What a difference a place makes: Dental attendance and self-rated oral health among adults in three counties in Norway

Through a multilevel approach, the study explores the relationships of dental attendance and self-rated oral health (SROH) to individual and structural factors among adults in Norway. The individual factors include various socio-demographic characteristics. The structural ones are population density and dentist density. The sample was recruited from three counties that represent three different combinations of population density and dentist density. There were significant differences in both dental attendance and SROH between the counties. The findings support the theory of a structural explanation of the observed differences and indicate evidence of supplier-suppressed demand. Access to dental services could be improved either by regulating the supply side of dentistry or by compensating patients for travel costs incurred in accessing dental services.