<![CDATA[Background: Physiological changes in older adults increase the risk of oral disease and tooth loss. Understanding the factors influencing dental service utilization in this population is crucial for planning targeted interventions. Purpose: This cross-sectional analytical study aimed to explore the factors associated with dental service utilization among the early elderly (60–69 years) in Seka District, Bueng Kan Province, Thailand. Methods: A multistage random sampling method was used to select 242 early elderly. Data on personal factors, predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about oral health), enabling factors, reinforcing factors, and dental service utilization were collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and the chi-square test were used to analyze the data. Results: The majority of participants were women (70.2%), with an average age of 64.5 years. Most participants were farmers (50.4%) and had completed primary education (83.5%). A significant proportion (68.6%) had never received dental services before. Although the majority had a high level of oral health knowledge (66.9%) and a positive attitude (95.9%), less than half (47.5%) had strong oral health beliefs. Marital status (p = 0.021), access to information in the past year (p < 0.001), ability to travel independently (p = 0.017), oral health beliefs (p = 0.037), enabling factors (p < 0.001), and reinforcing factors (p = 0.009) showed statistically significant associations with dental service utilization. Conclusion: Personal, predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors significantly influenced dental service utilization among the early elderly in Seka District. Oral health education and promotion focusing on the prevention of oral health problems in the elderly are recommended to increase dental service utilization.]]>
