Fatima Saleem, Sara Ashraf, Farhan Javed, Muhammad Naveed.
Determinants of Delay in Presentation of patients with Dental Problems.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;12(3):1211-3.

Background: Oral health is always ignored and taken as less important as compared to the general health but in contrast both types of health are linked to each other. Study shows that determinants affecting general health are also causing oral health problems and poor oral health leads to many diseases. Aim : To examined the factor which decisively affects individuals delaying treatments of their dental problems Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at outdoor of CMH Medical College and Institute of Dentistry Lahore. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from April 2017 to September 2017. One hundred and twenty six patients (men and women) were included. Survey was conducted only on patients who arrived at outpatient first time with pastoral treatment history. Patients showed interest was given questionnaire to answer. Results : Only 150 participants were approached to participate in this survey and 126 answered successfully (response rate=84%) with age ranges from 15-80 years, 79 were males and 47 were females. Majority of them responded that they avoid visiting the dentist due to lack of time (63.5%), people said that appointments are delayed to months (55.60%), respondents had financial issues (43.70%) and people were afraid of going to the dentist (38.90%). Conclusion: It is concluded that most of patients complaint that they do not have enough time for oral treatment due to various reasons. Other major factors are delayed appointment and financial barriers. These factors are common around the region and also discussed in this report with comparison of current results.

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