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Objective: To assess the knowledge of adolescents concerning the cariogenic status of a range of foods and drinks. To determine the associations between this knowledge and their awareness of the importance of the ways sugars may be consumed in order to reduce tooth decay., Design: Self-complete questionnaires assessing the above factors in a cross sectional study., Participants: Four hundred and fifteen 14-15-year-old young people attending second level schools., Setting: North and West Belfast area, Northern Ireland., Outcome Measures: Students rated the dental safety of common foods and drinks, and their views on the necessity of reducing all sugars, and avoiding them between meals were recorded., Results: Correct assessment of harmful items ranged from 96.9% for chocolate and 92.8% for cola to 39.0% for orange squash and 17.8% for plain biscuits. For non-harmful products there were high levels for most items and somewhat lower levels for crisps (57.6%). Significant links were established between this knowledge and children's awareness of the role of eating patterns, although the items involved varied. A majority recognised the importance of eating patterns in relation to dental caries., Conclusion: Health educators should be aware that many adolescents have poor knowledge of the cariogenic status of some of the foods and drinks they consume and some are unsure of the importance of eating patterns.

Objective: To determine the sources of learning and the levels of support concerning sugar-free medicines by doctors and pharmacists, to examine the provision of choice from the viewpoints of professionals and the parents, and to test the sugar-free status of medication in tests of prescribing., Design: Samples of health professionals comprising 47 general medical practitioners, (87% response rate) 29 pharmacists (94%) and 25 general dental practitioners (100%) completed closed questionnaires as did 209 parents (72%) of 4-year-old children., Setting: Newry and Mourne Health Trust Area, Northern Ireland., Outcome Measures: Proportions of respondents citing various learning sources and the levels of support for the use of sugar-free medicines were obtained and the proportions of doctors and pharmacists claiming to offer various frequencies of choice were compared to the proportions of parents recalling receiving such choices. Test prescriptions were examined and the sugar-free status of the prescribed medication was determined., Results: Markedly different sources of learning were cited by different groups. Ninety per cent of pharmacists and 88% of dentists believed that medication should be in sugar-free form in all cases, while only 66% of doctors thought so. Forty three per cent of doctors claimed to always offer a choice while 17% of parents recalled receiving this. The equivalent figures for pharmacists and parents were 69% and 11%. The majority of test prescriptions by doctors and dentists were for sugar containing medicines.

Factors affecting the dental health and dental registration of preschool children were examined. Questionnaires were completed for 340 randomly selected children and the dental caries status of 294 of these children was examined. There was a statistically significant relationship between the dental caries experience of the child and its position in the family, the lowest caries experience occurring in the second and third born. The peak age of new dental registration appeared to occur during children's third year. The person responsible for bringing the child for dental appointments was the mother in 290 instances out of 340. Maternal education level was significantly associated with child dental health. The caries prevalence in children whose mothers were educated to 3rd level was 10.6 per cent as compared to 38.1 per cent for 2nd level and 46.8 per cent for below '0' level mothers. Mothers who were relaxed about their own dental care were the most likely to have preschool children who were registered for dental care. Similarly those mothers whose last dental visit occurred in the previous six months were the most likely to have children who were registered.

The views of community dental officers working in Northern Ireland were obtained concerning the difficulties they experience in treating disabled people. A closed questionnaire was used and a response rate of 84 per cent was achieved (60 officers). Thirty-seven per cent of the officers had received postgraduate training in this area. Lack of experience and knowledge concerning the treatment of the disabled was the commonest reason for not offering comprehensive dental care. Emotional upset and embarrassment or the length of time for treatment were the least cited. One-fifth perceived no barriers, a slight majority indicated two or less and only two officers indicated more than five. Those who were qualified ten years or longer, had greater difficulty than the more recently qualified in providing treatment for mentally and physically disabled children and medically compromised patients.

The study examined the potential barriers to dental care for a selected sample of 57 adults suffering from cerebral palsy. The majority (60 per cent) were regular dental attenders and they received dental care in general dental practice and community dental practice in almost equal numbers. Those with mobility or communication difficulties were significantly more likely to attend the community or hospital dental services (P < 0.05). Their most common perceived barriers to dental care were fear, the need to be accompanied and negative attitudes, while cost was a rarely stated barrier. A dislike of dental treatment was significantly related to irregular attendance (P < 0.05) but neither anxiety nor the need to be accompanied were significantly related to attendance pattern.

The pattern of sugar consumption in a sample of 350 11-12-year-old adolescents was examined. Their knowledge of the sugar content of a range of common foodstuffs was also investigated. There were only small differences between the social class groups in mealtime sugar consumption. The frequency of total food and drink was significantly higher in the low social class groups and this was mainly explained by significantly higher between meal consumption of solid food which contained sugar. The level of knowledge of the sugar content of foods was significantly higher in the higher social class groups. Fifty-two per cent of the questions were answered correctly, with a range of 9-91 per cent for individual foodstuffs.

The present study was undertaken to establish the dental disease and treatment levels in 101 young insulin dependent diabetic patients in Northern Ireland. There was a significantly greater proportion of children from the higher social classes in the diabetic group. Their dental caries experience was lower than that reported for the general population and the restorative indices were high. However, those whose diabetes was diagnosed at a late stage had a higher caries experience. There was significantly more gingivitis detected in older diabetic patients, but oral hygiene status did not significantly differ with age. There was a pattern of regular dental attendance in the majority of diabetic subjects.

131 patients suffering from cystic fibrosis were compared with a similar number of matched healthy control subjects. The cystic fibrosis patients had significantly lower levels of gingivitis and plaque and a significantly higher prevalence of calculus. They had significantly less caries in the deciduous dentition than their controls. There was also a lower experience of caries in the permanent dentition although the difference between the two groups was not so marked in this case.