FACTORS SOCIO-CULTURAL DETERMINANTS IN THE ELECTION OF AN ODONTOLOGICAL TREATMENT

Abstract

To determine the socio-cultural factors determining the choice of a dental treatment in the parish of Yanuncay
and Tarqui in the canton of Cuenca. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive design study was carried out with a population
of 16,820 people, as sample 374 from an urban parish and 367 from a rural parish, selected through stratified sampling by
optimal allocation. As dependent variable, the degree of satisfaction of dental experience prior to dental care, socioeconomic
level through the INEC survey, and oral health habits were measured through a survey developed for this study. RESULTS:
The relationship between the socioeconomic level and the frequency of visits to the dental service presented statistical
significance in both localities (Yanuncay p = 0.02 and Tarqui p <0.001). The degree of satisfaction is significantly related to
the dental experience in both parishes with a value of p <0.001. The habits that showed a significant relationship with the
use of dental services were: having a dental brush and visiting the dentist, with p = 0.005 and p = 0.029 respectively. In the
urban area only change of brush in different periods of time presented a value of p = 0.01. CONCLUSIONS: The inhabitants
of the Tarqui and Yanuncay parishes attend dental services according to their socioeconomic level, degree of satisfaction of
the user and more frequent habits in oral health of the settlers.