DENTAL SERVICES UTILIZATION BETWEEN 1977 AND 1995 BY FINNISH ADOLESCENTS OF DIFFERENT SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS

Equal distribution of health care services has long been a major goal of health policy in the Nordic countries. According to these guideline s, every child is expected to have an examination and treatment at lea st every second year. The aim of this study was to analyze the trends and, in particular, the socioeconomic differences in dental visits bet ween 1977 and 1995. The data were collected as part of a nationwide re search program, the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey, which bega n in 1977. Every second year a self-administered questionnaire was mai led to a representative sample of 14-, 16- and 18-year-old Finns. The sample sizes in the surveys varied from 2422 to 9556, making a total o f 56 605 subjects in the whole study. The response rates in different years varied from 77% to 88%. The percentage of adolescents visiting a dentist increased between 1977 and 1981 and thereafter remained stabl e. Dental visits seemed to correlate with the occupational and educati onal status of the parents up to 1983, but not after that. The Finnish primary oral health care policy seems to have gained a major objectiv e by eliminating social inequality in dental service utilization among adolescents.