A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF THE DENTAL-CARE OF ADULTS IN THE GENERAL DENTAL SERVICE IN SCOTLAND - THE FIRST 6 YEARS, 1988-1994

Objective To provide an overview of routine dental care for adults att ending the general dental service in Scotland, in a more detailed mann er than is currently possible from national data sets. Design and sett ing Cohort study in the general dental service. Subjects and methods T he cohort consisted of 992 Scottish dentate adults who participated in the adult dental health survey of 1988, conducted by the Office of Po pulation Censuses and Surveys. Details of subsequent treatment underta ken in the general dental service were provided by Dental Practice Div ision, Edinburgh. Main outcome measures Production of patient-specific and tooth-specific data on dental attendance and treatment. Results 7 1% of the cohort attended at least once in the 6 years. Registration l evels, following the introduction of the continuing care contract, rea ched 42-44%. Observed lapses in registration illustrate the changing m embership of the relatively static level of registration year-on-year. Vulnerability to treatment of different tooth sites is illustrated gr aphically. Conclusions Cohort studies provide valuable information on patterns of attendance and treatment needed for planning of dental hea lth services. Growing computer power and increasing demands for manage ment data may mean that future work of this nature can be more appropr iately undertaken at the population level.