A 'willingness to pay' study on how much the Maltese adult population are willing to pay for preventive dentistry including advice and treatment

Abstract

Objective: To establish willingness to pay values for preventive dentistry including treatment and personalised advice and to assess if a relationship exists between the willingness to pay values and factors including gender, income, level of education, oral hygiene habits and dental history. Materials and methods: This study was carried out through distribution of an online questionnaire through google forms which consisted of 6 demographic questions, 10 questions about dental history and oral hygiene habits, 5 Likert scale questions including likeliness to pay and 3 open-ended willingness to pay questions. Results: The median willingness to pay value for preventive treatment is €50, whilst that for personalised oral health advice was that of €25 and €40 for a cleaning. Willingness to pay for caries preventive dental treatment was significantly related to the likeliness to pay for preventive dental treatment (P=0.03201). Willingness to pay for personalised advice about oral health was related to level of education (P=0.00441). Willingness to pay for personalised advice about oral health was related to the likeliness to pay for personalised advice about oral health (P=0.00016). Conclusions: The Maltese adult population gives more value to preventive dentistry than a cleaning and give the least monetary value to personalised advice about oral health and hygiene. No significant relationship was found between willingness to pay values and dental history factors. Further research on this topic is required.