Abstract
The insurance payment plan for dental implants in Korea has been criticized because the payment priority has not been properly established, and the benefits are concentrated among middle-class citizens. In the current study, the relationship between the oral health condition and socioeconomic status of the elderly was analyzed using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). This study aims to determine the reason underlying the criticism of the insurance payment plan. The subjects were >65-year-old individuals in the 2010 and 2011 database of KNHANES. Data from 2,812 subjects were analyzed. The socioeconomic status was determined based on edentulousness, molar tooth loss, and presence of 28 teeth. According to the analysis, the average income was 1,560,000 won for edentulous elderly, 1,811,000 won for elderly who had lost molar teeth, and 1,896,000 won for elderly with 28 teeth (p<0.05). In addition, elderly with a low education level demonstrated a poor oral health condition (p<0.001). In conclusion, the insurance plan currently under examination is not properly designed for economically impoverished elderly because the plan only covers 50% of the costs and is limited to implantation of molar teeth only. This plan will not provide practical benefits to elderly with a poor socioeconomic status; therefore, the insurance payment plan needs to be improved so that the appropriate beneficiaries can be targeted.
