Abstract
Objetive: To describe the use of dental services in people aged 60 or older in Chile in 2017. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study, secondary analysis of the database of the National Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (CASEN) of 2017, considering people aged 60 or older as a sample (n=42619). The outcome variable was having visited the dentist in the last three months and predisposing and facilitating explanatory variables were used. The association of categorical variables was analyzed with Chi-square, with 95% confidence (p< 0.05) and the analysis was stratified by sex. Results: 5.6% visited the dentist in the last three months, being more frequent in women, between 60-69 years old, living in urban areas, with tertiary education level, belonging to the most advantaged socioeconomic quintile and with private health insurance. 0.4% received emergency dental care in the last 12 months, but only 61.1% of them used the access and coverage guarantee available in Chile (AUGE-GES). Conclusions: There is an unequal use of dental services in older people in Chile according to the predisposing and facilitating variables studied. This study shows the presence of socioeconomic gradients in the use of dental services in the older adult population in Chile.
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