Initial development of a scale to measure dental indifference.

Lack of concern about dental health contributes significantly to the reluctance of people to attend for dental check-ups and to implement preventive dental measures. The aim of this study was to develop and assess a questionnaire method of detecting this attitude which was described as dental indifference. The questionnaire was tested on 910 dentate adults in Scotland. A 62% response rate was obtained. Five hundred of the respondents were then sent a second copy of the questionnaire to assess its reliability, a 67% response rate was obtained. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the first and second completion of the dental indifference questionnaire was 0.79. The internal consistency measured by Chronbach's alpha was 0.71. High scores on the dental indifference questionnaire were significantly associated with being young, male and a manual worker. High scores had fewer teeth, on average, than the rest of the sample and more than half of them had no record of attending for dental care within 4 years. Those who did attend a dentist were more likely to have teeth filled or extracted. The dental indifference questionnaire may be useful for targeting groups who require oral health promotion activity and may prove to be a reliable means of identifying individuals who display behaviours which could be expected to be associated with a lack of interest in dental health, such as lack compliance with oral care instructions and failing to complete course of treatment.