Social capital and regional influences: key predictors of unmet dental care needs among older adults in South Korea.

Objectives: Access to dental services is essential for improving quality of life, and social capital plays a key role in facilitating that access. This study aimed to identify individual- and regional-level factors, including social capital, that predict unmet dental care needs among older adults.

Methods: We analyzed data from 59,414 older adults obtained from the 2023 Korea Community Health Survey and the Korean Statistical Information Service, employing a 2-level multilevel model. The dependent variables comprised 3 types of unmet dental care needs: overall, due to lack of acceptability, and due to economic reasons. Twelve independent variables, including social capital and other individual and regional factors, were examined.

Results: The prevalence of unmet needs was 14.15% overall, 8.70% for acceptability reasons, and 4.85% for economic reasons. Lower individual social capital was associated with higher odds of unmet dental care needs, whereas regional social capital factors demonstrated no significant association. Residing in regions with higher fiscal independence ratios was related to an increased likelihood of economic unmet needs (odds ratio [OR], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.52). In contrast, a greater density of dentists per 10,000 population was inversely associated with overall and acceptability-related unmet needs (OR, 0.82 for both; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.92 and 0.73 to 0.93, respectively).

Conclusion: Individual social capital and specific regional factors-namely, fiscal independence and density of dentists-may represent important determinants of unmet dental care needs among older adults. Policy interventions aimed at reducing unmet needs should consider these variables.