Introduction: Financial protection is a key component of universal health coverage and one of the main goals of health systems. Monitoring related indicators is crucial for policymakers to understand the distribution of health costs and identify vulnerable populations. This study aimed to examine trends in dental service expenditures and the incidence of catastrophic and impoverishing health expenditures caused by these services among Iranian households from 2016 to 2023.
Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey. The trends in dental service expenditures and household exposure to catastrophic and impoverishing expenditures caused by these services were examined, stratified by expenditure quintile and household location.
Results: In 2023, the mean per capita out-of-pocket payment for dental services was 7,984,933 Rials. Urban households spent over three times more than rural households, and the wealthiest quintile spent more than 165 times that of the poorest quintile. The share of dental out-of-pocket payments in total health expenditures rose from 17.42% in 2016 to 29.21% in 2023. The proportion of households facing catastrophic and impoverishing expenditures due to dental services increased from 10.71% and 0.53% in 2016 to 18.62% and 0.58% in 2023, respectively.
Conclusion: The share of out-of-pocket payments for dental services as a share of total health expenditures has consistently shown an increasing trend. The higher expenditure on dental services among wealthier populations may indicate inequality in the utilization of these services across the country and lower utilization of dental services by poorer populations.