The bitewing radiographs of 1,731 English and Danish schoolchildren aged 13--15 years were examined to assess the prevalence of chronic periodontitis. Only one child (0.06%) was found to be affected in comparison with the high prevalence of 51.5% reported by Hull et al. (1975). Minute qualitative changes in the radiographic appearance of the alveolar crest, or changes in the visual representation of the width of the periodontal ligament space are not reliable or valid criteria for assessing chronic periodontitis. Horizontal bone loss observed on radiographs, which can be accurately measured using the cemento-enamel junction as a reference point, is a useful diagnostic criterion for the measurement of chronic periodontitis.

Information on the social origin, dental health related behavior and patterns of utilization of dental services were collected simultaneously with epidemiologic data on dental caries from 1,719 Danish recruits called‐up for military training at the Karup Air Base during 1972. The findings indicated that the less privileged social groups had more decayed teeth, had lost more teeth and had fewer filled teeth than the more privileged groups. Exposure to the regular care program provided by the School Dental Health Service and the Youth Dental Care Scheme seemed to have a leveling effect among social groups. However, the less privileged social groups had a significantly lower participation rate in the Youth Dental Care Scheme and accounted for a larger number of drop‐outs from the regular care program when compared to the more privileged groups. Rural/urban residency was not found to be associated with the number of DMF teeth or the rate of utilization of the Youth Dental Care Scheme, if selected social variables were held constant.

A 1-year study of the isolated effect of an intensive motivation program aimed at improving the oral health status of 11-13-year-old schoolchildren was conducted in a Danish provincial town where all children have access to a free and comprehensive school oral health program. The effect was negligible as measured by epidemiologic indices.

A 3‐year, unsupervised, toothbrushing study with a double‐blind, controlled design was conducted to evaluate the caries‐preventive effectiveness of a 2 % sodium monofluorophosphate dentifrice among 1,407 7‐ to 12‐year‐old children residing in an optimal, natural fluoride (= 1.2–1.4 parts/106) area of Denmark. With the initial caries lesion as a differential, two levels of clinical caries diagnosis were applied in the quantitative evaluation of the effects. A comparison of the monofluorophosphate dentifrice with a null control dentifrice indicated that its use at home, coupled with regular motivation by home visitors, conferred about a 30 % reduction in dental caries increment over a 3‐year period, beyond those anticariogenic benefits assumed to have been provided by the waterborne fluoride.

This investigation was carried out in order to collect information regarding oral health in a group of schoolchildren in Kandy, Sri Lanka. 614 children of 6.9, 12 and 15 years were selected by stratified random sampling and examined under field conditions. The primary dentition showed a high rate of caries on all types of surfaces. Caries in the permanent dentition was mainly located to pits and fissures below the age of 12 years, after which smooth surface caries developed. The D-component was by far the largest component of the DMF-index in both the primary and the permanent dentition. The results are discussed in the light of the existing dental care delivery system in Sri Lanka.

A 3-year experimental toothbrushing study was conducted in a natural fluoride area in Denmark to evaluate the anti-caries effect of a 2% sodium monofluorophosphate dentifrice. In a previous report the results for the total population of 1,407 schoolchildren, representing a broad age-span (7-12 years), at the commencement of the study in 1970 were given. In the present report results are presented for two subpopulations of "8-year-olds" and "11-year-olds" at the commencement of the study. Differential analysis of the effect of the test dentifrice on defined types of surfaces for the two subpopulations is given. The evaluation was performed using both the conventional DMF-indices and the recently published ECSI-Index6. The evaluation showed that the test dentifrice had a valuable anti-caries effect in both age groups, above and beyond the effect of the waterborne fluoride. Proximal surfaces were affected most baneficially by the active agent both in relative and absolute terms. However, an appreciable caries-preventive effect was also found on the "pit and fissure" surfaces.

A sociological study was conducted in 1987 on a sample of 490 Hong Kong Chinese civil servants for the purpose of investigating factors which influenced their utilization of a freely available Government dental service. The proportions of regular, irregular and non-users of the dental service were 69, 18, and 13% respectively. Regular users had a higher educational standard and income level than the other two user-types. Most of the regular users attended the dental clinics for a check-up. The irregular users did not regularly utilize the service mainly because it took a long time to obtain an appointment. Non-users referred to the long waiting time to obtain an appointment and to their perception of not having dental problems when asked to give their main reasons for not utilizing the dental service. The majority of the user-types considered that shortening the waiting time and employing more dentists would increase the utilization of the Government dental service.

The Danish oral health care delivery system is a publicly funded, predominantly school based system of care for children and adolescents and a private practice copayment national health insurance mode for adults. Study of this dualistic system can provide useful information to dental public health practitioners. Interviews with experts in the Danish oral health care system and a selected review of the literature demonstrate that improvement trends are occurring in the oral health status of both adults and children. These improvement trends can be directly related to a combination of treatment and preventive measures undertaken by the country as a whole, and to specific interventions for certain subpopulation groups, such as preschoolers. Four key variables can be defined which have contributed to the success of the Danish oral health care delivery system (DOHCDS). These include 1) the role of private sector input into the development of the DOHCDS, 2) demography, 3) the Danish value system, and 4) the structure of the DOHCDS.