Do young adults demand more dental services as their income increases?

Several studies from the USA have shown that there is a positive and strong relationship between income and demand for dental care. All these studies have been performed on populations where treatment needs were high. Today, young adults represent one group of the population where treatment needs are low. But young adults will not necessarily demand or utilize more dental services as their income increases. As we do not know the extent to which demand will increase when income increases among young adults, future needs for dental manpower could be less than predicted from previous studies. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between income and demand/utilization for dental services among young adults in Norway. The analyses were performed on two large sets of survey data, collected in 1985 and 1995, which were representative of the Norwegian population aged 20 years and above. The main finding was that the increase in demand with an increase in income was less for young adults than for older adults. In particular, there was a marked fall in the income elasticities among young adults from 1985 to 1995. The fall in the income elasticity corresponds to a marked decrease in the prevalence of dental diseases among young adults during that period. Our results imply that future policies for dental manpower should take into account the lower income elasticity for young adults compared to for older adults, and that future needs for dental personnel should be planned accordingly.