Introduction: Oral health is a basic human right and a wider social goal. It is influenced by awareness of an individual and it is determined by diet, oral hygiene practice. Dental care utilization can be defined as the percentage of the population visiting the dentist. Oral health care keeps microorganisms under control. Regular oral care and yearly dental check-up are the best means of saving teeth. Aim: To assess the utilisation of dental services and barriers in the utilisation of dental services among outpatients in a private college in Chennai. Materials and methods: Institutional based study was conducted among outpatients of a private dental college. The survey was conducted among 100 outpatients of a private dental college. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to assess dental service utilisation and barriers. Descriptive statistics and chi square tests were used in data analysis. Results: 39% of the population stated the reason for not utilizing the dental services as that dental diseases are not very serious to them. 48% of the population reported long distance from home to clinic as a barrier for not utilizing the dental service. All the study participants reported that they use toothbrushes for cleaning their teeth. 86% of the population does not know about their status of gums and teeth. 96% of the population clean their teeth only once a day. 31% of the population states language as a barrier for dental service utilization. 3% of the population states that cultural belief is a barrier for dental service utilization. 27% of the population stated geographical location as a barrier for dental care utilization. Most of them stated cost as a barrier from the age group of 56 yrs and above ( p value - 0.001) Conclusion: Language, geographical location were stated as barriers to dental service utilization. Culture was not considered as a barrier for dental care. Participants in the age group of 56 yrs and above stated cost as the major barrier for dental service utilisation.

Oral health, dental health care, innovative analysis, barriers