STATED PREFERENCES AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR MOLAR TREATMENT: RESULTS OF PILOT STUDY

This study attempts to determining stated preferences for treatment of molar and the willingness to pay of the selected alternative. The study is based on questions from the interview of Christopher Robert Vernazza, used in his thesis "The monetary value of oral health: willingness to pay for treatment and prevention". Using a sample of 111 people visit their dentists in Plovdiv. The method of study is a direct anonymous questionnaire with questions about the choice of alternative health and willingness to pay its (direct open question); demographic, social and economic characteristics of the respondents; history, severity of dental disease and frequency of visits to the dentist. The estimates of willingness to pay for the proposed health alternatives with their standard deviation were as follows: root canal treatment and placing a crown - 121,30 ± 84,53 BGN; extract the tooth and leaving a gap - 51,67 ± 74,13 BGN; placing a removable denture - 120,00 ± 156,52 BGN; placing fixed bridge - 125,71 ± 66,79 BGN; implant - 491,43 ± 478,90 BGN. ). The level of income affects payment decisions. We found that with increasing household income increases willingness to pay – the moderate positive relationship exists (Spearman's rho=0,429). Demographic and other socio-economic factors have no got a statistically significant impact on the willingness to pay of the selected health choices.