世論 What Japan Thinks

A recent survey from iShare on a favourite topic of mine, Japanese aversion for dentists, took a slightly different and rather interesting look at the oft-covered matter of Japanese teeth.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 17th of January 2009 468 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private online questionnaire. 52.6% of the sample were male, 11.3% in their twenties, 53.2% in their thirties, 26.3% in their forties, 6.4% in their fifties, and 2.8% either in their teens or aged sixty or older.

I actually need to go to the dentist (it’s 9 months since my last cleaning) but… I don’t really like phones in English, so Japanese is twice as bad! The dentist himself I can most strongly recommend, and his prices are quite reasonable, especially compared to the ham-fisted thief that my wife visits.

Research results

Q1: Have you been to the dentist recently? (Sample size=468)

	All	Male N=246	Female N=222
Currently having treatment	9.0%	8.9%	9.0%
Yes, within the last six months (to SQ1)	18.2%	15.0%	21.6%
Yes, within the last year (to SQ1)	15.8%	13.0%	18.9%
No, not for a year or more (to SQ1)	57.1%	63.0%	50.5%

Q1SQ1: Do you think you ought to go to the dentist? (Sample size=426)

	All	Male N=224	Female N=202
Just finished treatment, so don’t need to go	22.1%	21.9%	22.3%
Think I ought to go (to SQ2)	43.7%	37.5%	50.5%
Don’t want to go (to SQ2)	34.3%	40.6%	27.2%

Q1SQ2: Why don’t you go to the dentist? (Sample size=332, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=175	Female N=157
It’s bothersome to go	41.6%	44.0%	38.9%
Too busy at work	34.0%	33.7%	34.4%
Costs money	22.0%	20.0%	24.2%
Hate treatment, clinics	16.3%	18.9%	13.4%
Don’t think I have bad teeth	25.3%	26.3%	24.2%
Treatment, clinics are scary	11.7%	13.1%	10.2%
Other	9.3%	8.0%	10.8%

Q2: When is a good time to go to the dentist? (Sample size=468, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=246	Female N=222
After work	39.5%	38.2%	41.0%
Holidays	31.0%	34.6%	27.0%
Mornings	27.6%	24.4%	31.1%
Afternoons	18.2%	13.0%	23.9%
Evenings	13.5%	15.4%	11.3%
Lunchtimes	3.0%	4.5%	1.4%
Before work	0.2%	0.4%	0.0%