Willingness of Parents to Pay for Nitrous Oxide and Oxygen Inhalation Sedation During Dental Treatment for Children in Saudi Arabia
Abstract:
This study aimed to evaluate parental willingness to
pay (WTP) for nitrous oxide and oxygen inhalation sedation (NOIS) as a behavior
management technique during pediatric dental treatment. A total of 293 parents
(aged 20–65 years) having children aged 3–14 years were enrolled in this study.
All eligible parents completed an online questionnaire comprising two sections.
The first section collected informed consent, demographic data, and previous
dental history, while the second section included an educational video on NOIS
followed by bidding process questions to elicit WTP. All the collected data on
WTP was compared across different groups using Mann-Whitney U and
Kruskal-Wallis tests. Nearly, 27.60% of parents were willing to pay the average
cost of 600 SAR for NOIS for their children, while the majority, 72.40%, found
it to be expensive. Father's education (p = 0.014) and monthly income (p =
0.004) were significantly associated with parents' WTP for NOIS for their
children during dental treatment. In contrast, no significant difference in
child gender (p = 0.825) or child age (p = 0.064) and mothers' education (p =
0.211) was observed with regard to the WTP. The results showed that most
parents found the mean cost for NOIS of 600 SAR for their children during
dental treatment to be expensive. Monthly income and the father's education
level were the only factors that affected the parents' WTP for NOIS.
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