Table 1 Descriptive information of total sampled individuals divided by the first dental service utilization patterns
| Â | Total | Symptomatic user | Preventive user | No visit | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | Â |
Total | 2028 (100) | 698 (34.4) | 245 (12.1) | 1085 (53.5) | Â |
Sex | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Male | 1023 (50.4) | 355 (50.9) | 132 (53.9) | 536 (49.4) | 0.433 |
 Female | 1005 (49.6) | 343 (49.1) | 113 (46.1) | 549 (50.6) |  |
Age | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 < 2 | 68 (3.4) | 9 (1.3) | 6 (2.4) | 53 (4.9) | < 0.001 |
 2 ≤ y < 3 | 110 (5.4) | 14 (2.0) | 17 (6.9) | 79 (7.3) |  |
 3 ≤ y < 4 | 631 (31.1) | 129 (18.5) | 84 (34.3) | 418 (38.5) |  |
 4 ≤ y < 5 | 587 (28.9) | 218 (31.2) | 69 (28.2) | 300 (27.6) |  |
 5 ≤ y < 6 | 563 (27.8) | 282 (40.4) | 62 (25.3) | 219 (20.2) |  |
 6 ≤ y < 7 | 69 (3.4) | 46 (6.6) | 7 (2.9 | 16 (1.5) |  |
Mean age (SD) | 4.8 (1.18) | 5.3 (0.96) | 4.8 (1.09) | 4.5 (1.23) | Â |
Children count | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 One child | 1219 (60.1) | 414 (59.3) | 165 (67.3) | 640 (59.0) | < 0.05 |
 Two or more children | 809 (39.9) | 284 (40.7) | 80 (32.7) | 445 (41.0) |  |
Dental caries | |||||
 No | 1173 (57.8) | 153 (21.9) | 185 (75.5) | 835 (77.0) | < 0.001 |
 Yes | 855 (42.2) | 545 (78.1) | 60 (24.5) | 250 (23.0) |  |
Mean dmft | 1.51(2.7) | 3.14(3.4) | 0.71(1.8) | 0.63(1.6) | < 0.001 |
Education level of mother | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 High school or blew | 524 (25.8) | 178 (25.5) | 33 (13.5) | 313 (28.8) | < 0.001 |
 College | 1364 (67.3) | 473 (67.8) | 179 (73.1) | 712 (65.6) |  |
 Master or above | 140 (6.9) | 47 (6.7) | 33 (13.5) | 60 (5.5) |  |
Family income category | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Low | 637 (31.4) | 233 (33.4) | 53 (21.6) | 351 (32.4) | < 0.001 |
 Middle | 915 (45.1) | 304 (43.6) | 102 (41.6) | 509 (46.9) |  |
 High | 476 (23.5) | 161 (23.1) | 90 (36.7) | 225 (20.7) |  |
Child’s main caregiver |  |  |  |  |  |
 Parents | 1840 (90.7) | 638 (91.4) | 230 (93.9) | 972 (89.6) | 0.236 |
 Grandparents or others | 188 (9.3) | 60 (8.6) | 15 (6.1) | 113 (10.4) |  |
Parental marital status | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Normal | 1954 (96.4) | 671 (96.1) | 236 (96.3) | 1047 (96.5) | 0.994 |
 Divorce or separate | 74 (3.6) | 27 (3.9) | 9 (3.7) | 38 (3.5) |  |
Living area | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Urban | 1955 (96.4) | 681 (97.6) | 240 (98.0) | 1034 (95.3) | < 0.05 |
 Rural | 73 (3.6) | 17 (2.4) | 5 (2.0) | 51 (4.7) |  |