Characteristics and willingness of patients to pay for regular dental check-ups in Japan.

The purpose of this survey was to investigate the relationship between demographic characteristics and willingness of patients to pay for regular dental check-ups in Japan. Questionnaires were distributed at private dental offices and collected via postage-paid return envelopes addressed to the center of the study groups. Questions focused on demographics and willingness to pay for regular check-ups. Five thousand one hundred thirty-two questionnaires were collected (response rate 56.8%). The 3 groups most likely to have regular dental check-ups were found to be the under 20s, 50 to 59 year olds and civil servants. Of these groups, civil servants were found to be the most likely of all to have regular check-ups. More females than males were represented in the sample. More than 60% of the patients responded that they would be willing to pay for regular check-ups if the cost were less than 2,000 yen (about 20 dollars). However, no statistically significant differences were observed in relation to household income. The results suggested that participation in regular dental check-ups might be related to gender and age, but not to household income.