Nijampatnam PM Pavani et al 16 Motivating Factors for Seeking Oral Health Care at a Teaching Dental Hospital in South India: A Cross- sectional Study 1 Nijampatnam PM Pavani, 2 Srinivas Pachava, 3 Suresh Sanikommu, 4 Narayana Rao Vinnakota 5 Talluri Devaki, 6 Srinivas Ravoori IJOCR ORIGINAL RESEARCH 10.5005/jp-journals-10051-0005 INTRODUCTION General health cannot be attained or maintained without oral health. The mouth is regarded as a mirror and the gateway to health. 1,2 The dental health of the general population in developed countries has improved over the past four decades, but people from developing countries continue to have high levels of dental disease. In devel- oping countries like India, evidence repeatedly shows suboptimal utilization of dental services. 3 Preventive dental visits help in the early detection and treatment of oral diseases. 4 But the provision of preventive dental care for adults depends on the individual patient’s ini- tiatives in utilizing dental care. Utilization is the actual attendance by the members of the public at health care facilities to receive care. 5,6 Utilization of dental services is influenced by a complex set of factors. 7,8 Behavioral, sociodemographic, and culturally related factors con- tribute to people’s decision in choosing dental health care providers as well as utilization of dental services. In order to improve oral health outcomes, an adequate knowledge of the individuals’ use of health services and the factors predictive of this behavior is essential. The socio-demographic background of an individual is an important variable predictive of dental services use. 7 There are 301 dental colleges in India, which exceeds the number of dental institutions in the United States, Brazil, and the whole of Europe. It is apparent that there is unequal distribution of dental colleges in India across its states, but this could be anticipated in a vast country like India with its huge cultural and economic diversity. The residual state of Andhra Pradesh, a south Indian state after bifurcation, has 13 dental institutions with the population of the state being near to 4.9 crores according to the 2011 census. There is unequal distribution of dental colleges across the 13 administrative areas (districts) of the state with no dental colleges in Vizianagaram, Prakasam, and Ananthapur districts. Guntur district is 1 of the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh located along the east coast of the Bay of Bengal, bearing a population of 4,889,230 according to the 2011 census with an area spreading over 11,391 km. 9 There is only one teaching-based dental institution available for the dental care of population in Guntur 1 Postgraduate Student, 2 Professor and Head, 3-5 Reader 6 Senior Lecturer 1-6 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Nijampatnam PM Pavani Postgraduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh India, e-mail: madhupavai.dr@gmail.com ABSTRACT Background: Utilization of dental services is infuenced by a complex set of behavioral, sociodemographic, and culturally related factors that contribute to people’s decision in choosing dental health care providers as well as utilization of dental services. So the objectives of the study are to elicit reasons for dental visit and to know reasons for the utilization of dental services in a teaching dental hospital. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 300 patients visiting the outpatient department of a teaching dental hospital for dental services. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 20 version. Descriptive analysis was done by using chi-square test. Results: Out of 300 patients, 46.7% (140) were males and 53.3% (160) were females. The mean age of the study population was 35.08 ± 16.21 years. The availability of good quality of treatment is the main reason behind people choosing the teaching dental hospital for utilization of services and 48.7% visited the dentist for the cause of dental pain. The distribution of study subjects based on education, occupation, and income with regard to reasons for visiting the teaching hospital is statistically signifcant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study reveals that there is a need to inculcate preventive-oriented health-seeking behavior, which by itself reduces the burden of dental treatments. Keywords: Dental services, Sociodemographic factors, Teaching dental hospital, Utilization. How to cite this article: Pavani NPM, Pachava S, Sanikommu S, Vinnakota NR, Devaki T, Ravoori S. Motivating Factors for Seeking Oral Health Care at a Teaching Dental Hospital in South India: A Cross-sectional Study. Int J Oral Care Res 2016;4(1):16-20. Source of support: Nil Confict of interest: None