Comparison of dental status determined in an epidemiological survey with prosthetic treatment received

Abstract

The potential need for prosthetic treatment among 720 dentate Scottish subjects of the 1978 UK Adult Dental Health Survey, was assessed by applying treatment criteria to the epidemiological data. The need was compared with the prosthetic treatment that was received under the National Health Service within 1 and 3 yr. It was found that 220 people had a need for dentures. 12.7% of the people who attended a dentist with a prosthetic need received the predicted treatment within 1 yr and 21.3% within 3 yr. Considered at the community level, as would be the case when planning a service, only 10% of those with a predicted need received the predicted treatment within 3 yr. 5.1% of the whole sample received more than the predicted treatment. This included 25 of the 500 people for whom the criteria predicted no need for dentures. 25.3% of the sample received less treatment than predicted. Taken overall, these findings indicate that the amount of prosthetic treatment demanded in the community was 28.6% of the amount predicted by the epidemiological survey. It would seem that prosthetic services in Scotland should be planned on this basis.