Dental Expenditures of population in Georgia

Abstract

Nowadays the increasing cases of oral diseases requires to enlarge the costs of their treatment. However, in developing countries, including Georgia, where the majority of the population is low-income or unemployed, their spending on dental services is too small. Over the years, in Georgia, the share of healthcare expenses in the population's consumer expenditures varies within 10%, while the share of dental expenses in the whole consumer expenditures is about 0.5%. The share of dental expenses in healthcare expenditures is about 5%. 17.0% of respondents spend up to 100 GEL on dental services, 56.3% spend between 100 and 500 GEL, 12.0% spend between 500 and 1000 GEL, and 14.7% spend more than 1000 GEL. Expenditures for dental care vary significantly by gender, age, region, and between employed and unemployed persons. About a one third of the surveyed population cannot afford to visit a dentist for prevention or treatment due to low income.