[The social interactions as a factor of activity of the elderly and the disabled in receiving dental services].

The article presents the features of the influence of social interactions on the social activity of older people and people with disabilities and their choice of types of social services. The Laboratory of Social Projects of the Belgorod National Research University in February - June 2018 conducted a sociological survey among the elderly and disabled of the Belgorod Region of Russia (240 people) to reveal knowledge about dental health and the prevention of dental diseases. The research methods were, firstly, the content analysis of individual social rehabilitation cards for the elderly and the disabled, and secondly, the survey of the elderly and the disabled. The results of the study showed: that the more elderly and disabled are included in social interactions, the more often they choose dental services among the entire list of types of social services; people who are not included in social interactions seek dental services in cases of acute pain or severe physical limitation of chewing function; socially active elderly and disabled people seek dental services for a large list of reasons (psychological, aesthetic); self-esteem by the elderly and disabled their dental health was more positive than that of the dentist; the elderly and disabled living in inpatient organizations have better dental health and are more likely to receive dental services than people living at home.