The perceptions of users about barriers to the use of free systematic oral care among Finnish pre-school children - a qualitative study

With the economic recession in the early 1990s in mind, and the change in the provision of healthcare services, our aim was to explore qualitatively what barriers families of Finnish pre-school children had perceived related to the use of free systematic oral healthcare. Qualitative interviews were carried out with the parents of 12 pre-school children attending an oral health examination to ascertain what barriers those using oral services had overcome, and what they considered to be the reasons for the non-attendance of other families. Content analysis was used by classifying groups of barriers and their reported importance as well as the reasons for non-attendance. The barriers discovered were related to: difficulties in the (i) change of daily routines or (ii) booking time for care, (iii) poor coordination with other healthcare services, (iv) fear and negative image of oral care, and (v) inconsistent content of oral health information. When parents replied to the externalized question about reasons for the non-attendance of some families, they most often mentioned difficulties in changing daily routines, laziness, lack of interest and fear. Barriers to attending oral healthcare could be lowered by emphasizing the positive image of oral health services, by providing more effective coordination with mother and child health services, and by providing appointment times later in the day.