Utilization of dental care service and associated factors among pre-school children in northwest China over the past decade

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors influencing the utilization of oral health care among 5 years old children. We conducted two observational cross-sectional studies. The studies were conducted in 2005 and 2015 and included 5-year-old children who underwent dental examination by trained dentists and the caregivers of the children were requested to answer the questionnaire. Multi-level stratified sampling method was used. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the utilization of dental care and other socio-economic variables. Logistic regression models were employed to explore the primary factors influencing the use of dental care among pre-school children. In 2005, a total of 399 and in 2015, 492 child-caregiver pairs were included. The majority of the caregivers in both surveys were females, comprising 68.2% and 74.8% of the caregivers in 2005 and 2015, respectively. 75.2% and 87.0% (p