FUTURE TREATMENT NEEDS IN CHILDREN, ADULTS AND THE ELDERLY

Future treatment needs for dental services are discussed in the perspe ctive of the objectives which the services are meant to fulfill. These are, broadly speaking, equal distribution of services and economic ef ficiency. Within the Nordic countries, the emphasis has been on equity , perhaps less on efficiency. Equity of utilization is best understood as being a situation where patients with equal needs for oral health care receive equal treatment, in terms of both the volume and the qual ity of the services. The justification for arguing that equality of ut ilization is the appropriate measure is mainly based on the externalit y argument: health-care consumption by one person may be the source of utility to another person. According to that view there are two benef iciaries of dental care: the patient who is sick, and the rest of soci ety who care for the sick patient and who derive utility from seeing t he patient become healthy. The public dental services for children in the Nordic countries are organized according to the principle of equit y of utilization. Equity of access is best understood as being a situa tion where people with equal needs have equal opportunity to use denta l services. It is a supply-side phenomenon; equal access is achieved w hen patients with the same needs face the same costs of dental-care co nsumption in terms of both time and money. The oral health situation a mong children, adults and the elderly is exemplified by national servi ce data and recent studies.