Abstract
Objectives: Understanding the value the general population place on dentistry services is important for policy makers to aide service planning. Willingness to pay (WTP) is an economic method used to elicit the value of a good or service. The aim of this study is to estimate United Kingdom (UK) general population WTP for commonly provided scale and polish, and detailed and personalised oral hygiene advice (OHA), and to investigate what factors influence WTP.
Methods: Participants completed an online hypothetical WTP survey for scale and polish and detailed and personalised oral hygiene advice. The estimation sample consisted of 1405 participants, nationally representative of the UK general population in terms of age and sex. Regression analysis was used to estimate WTP and determine what factors are associated with WTP. Analyses were conducted including and excluding protest answers.
Results: The mean (SD) WTP for a scale and polish is £26.77 (£21.91) excluding protest answers and £24.80 (£22.71) for the full sample. The mean (SD) WTP for detailed and personalised OHA is £16.56 (£19.75) excluding protest answers and £12.77 (£22.28) for the full sample. Participants on higher incomes, private attenders and those who stated that maintaining clean and healthy gums was important had higher WTP for both services. Participants in Scotland and Northern Ireland were WTP less than their English counterparts, reflecting the different regional specific payment systems.
Conclusion: The general UK population value scale and polish, and detailed and personalised OHA. This study provides estimates of WTP for these services which can be used to inform resource allocation decisions.
Methods: Participants completed an online hypothetical WTP survey for scale and polish and detailed and personalised oral hygiene advice. The estimation sample consisted of 1405 participants, nationally representative of the UK general population in terms of age and sex. Regression analysis was used to estimate WTP and determine what factors are associated with WTP. Analyses were conducted including and excluding protest answers.
Results: The mean (SD) WTP for a scale and polish is £26.77 (£21.91) excluding protest answers and £24.80 (£22.71) for the full sample. The mean (SD) WTP for detailed and personalised OHA is £16.56 (£19.75) excluding protest answers and £12.77 (£22.28) for the full sample. Participants on higher incomes, private attenders and those who stated that maintaining clean and healthy gums was important had higher WTP for both services. Participants in Scotland and Northern Ireland were WTP less than their English counterparts, reflecting the different regional specific payment systems.
Conclusion: The general UK population value scale and polish, and detailed and personalised OHA. This study provides estimates of WTP for these services which can be used to inform resource allocation decisions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 233-242 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 15 May 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsiQuaD was funded by the Health Technology Assessment Programme of the National Institute for Health Research, Current Controlled Trials number ISRCTN56465715. The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates funds HERU. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors only and not those of the funding bodies.
Keywords
- Willingness-to-pay (WTP)
- Scale and Polish
- Oral Hygiene Advice