CARIES-PREVENTIVE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN DENMARK, ICELAND, NORWAY AND SWEDEN - STRATEGIES AND RESOURCE-ALLOCATION

According to the dental acts of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, e mphasis is placed on preventive dental care. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare two aspects of the caries preventive serv ices: the strategies and the resource allocation for preventive dental care of children and adolescents in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Swed en. Questionnaires were sent to samples of dentists and other dental p ersonnel who provided preventive care to children during 1995 and 1996 . Comparisons between the countries showed significant differences in recall routines and in implementation of risk-based and population-bas ed preventive strategies. Multivariate analyses showed that the time u sed for preventive care varied by country and was not associated with the DMFT of the children. More time was allocated for prevention when more operating dental auxiliaries were available at the clinic, when t he recall interval was shorter, when the time used for routine examina tion was longer and when the clinician was an auxiliary rather than a dentist. In conclusion, resource allocation and strategies used for pr evention were not consistent between the countries.