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Temporal trends of caries frequency in 6-17-year-old children in Finland and its counties during 1975-79 are reported. Initially the attendance rate was 70%; during the 4-year follow-up it increased to 84%. The cross-sectional annual proportion of children needing curative treatment diminished from 80% to 67% at the age of 8 years; the changes among the 12- and 16-year-old children were 78-66% and 86-76%, respectively. The proportion of entirely caries-free children increased from 2.5% to 9.2% at the age of 8 years, only a slight increase was found in the older age groups. The mean DMFT value decreased continuously at all ages; in the 8-year-old children it decreased from 2.7% to 1.7%, in 12-year-old from 6.7% to 5.2% and at the age of 16 from 13.4% to 11.6%. The caries scores decreased most in areas where the initial values were highest. In the country with high fluoride levels, where the initial caries scores were smallest, only slight improvement in the caries situation was found; this indicates no major changes in recording of caries. Although a simultaneous improvement of the national attendance rate and the caries scores were observed, no consistent associations were found between the changes in the attendance rate and the changes in various caries indices when age and geographical area were considered in the analyses. It is concluded that the marked decrease in caries frequency is mainly due to preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the two random samples studied, the first represented 6-8-year-old residents of a natural high fluoride area (n=115) and residents of all other areas of Finland (n=1219). The second sample was representative for 7-9-year-old children participating in public dental care in an area with artificially fluoridated pipe water (n=182) and areas with low fluoride (n=530) in one Finnish county. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data on social class; caries diagnoses were made by local dentists in municipal dental clinics. Children in the highest social class had the lowest caries experience in both high and low fluoride areas. Differences between middle and lower social class children were small. Fluoride affected caries in the primary dentition similarly in all social classes; in both samples this was shown statistically by nonsignificant interaction between social class and fluoride. In Finland, differences between social classes in caries in the primary dentition cannot be removed solely by implementing water fluoridation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationwide and regional participation in the newly started public dental care system, occurrence of caries and proportion of children registered to be in need of restorative treatment during 1974-1979 were studied in 3-5-year-old Finnish children. The data were collected from the annual reports of municipal dental health centers. The mean annual proportion of children participating in the care increased from 27% in 1974 to 71% in 1979. A clear improvement was noticed in each county, especially in areas where the earlier situation was poor. During the study period an average proportion of entirely cariesfree children increased from 24% at the beginning to 57% at the end of the study. The mean annual proportion of children recorded to be in need of restorative care decreased from 61% at the beginning to 32% at the end of the study period. The mean dmft value decreased from 3.7 in 1974 to 1.7 in 1979. A strong inverse relationship existed between the dental health at the beginning of the study period and the extent of changes in dental health during the 6-year-period. Thus regional differences have greatly diminished since the introduction of the public dental care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study consisted of 1332 children representing 81% of a stratified random sample from the Finnish population born in 1970-72. Data on annual dental check-ups at the age of 2-5 years, caries at the age of 6-8 years, and social class were obtained by questionnaire from municipal dental clinics. Sixteen percent of the children had had regular (3-4) check-ups, 42% occasional (1-2) check-ups and 42% no dental check-ups. Proportion of children with no check-ups was somewhat higher in the highest than in the other social classes. Of the children having no reported check-ups, 27% were entirely caries free; 20% of those having occasional and 20% of those having regular check-ups were caries free. The mean dmft values among patients with one or more dmf teeth was 5.5 in children with no reported check-ups, 6.0 and 5.8 in those with occasional or regular check-ups. The mean dt values were 2.9, 2.6 and 2.3, respectively. In cases with no history of check-ups, the mean ft value among patients with one or more dmf teeth was 2.8, with occasional check-ups, 3.6, and with regular check-ups, 3.9. Thus a negative correlation existed between number of annual dental check-ups and number of untreated caries lesions found in cross-sectional examination; a positive correlation existed between frequency of check-ups and fillings found cross-sectionally. No clear correlation existed between regularity of annual dental check-ups and past caries experience (dmft). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study material consisted of 1417 children 6-8 years old representing 86% of a stratified random sample from the Finnish population. Data on caries and social class were obtained by questionnaire from the municipal dental clinics in 1978. Clinical findings for primary teeth were recorded by local dentists. Incisors were excluded from the study. 80% of the children had caries lesions, and 63% were in need of restorative care. Mean dmft value was 4.4, mean dt, ft, and mt values were 2.3, 2.6 and 0.3, respectively. Occurrence of untreated caries lesions did not vary according to age. Compared to the girls, boys had lost twice as many teeth due to caries. No other differences were observed between sexes. Both past caries experience and need of restorative care increased continuously from the highest social class to the lowest. Observed regional differences were explained mainly by variation in social stratification, except in an area with abundant natural fluoride. More active dental care is needed for children with primary teeth, especially in lower social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on a study which focused on special oral health education (OHE) program in Finland. In Finland more than 90% of the school-aged children receive their annual oral services within the public health system. The subjects in this study included all the young adults born in 1967 and registered as residents of the city of Pori, Finland. The criteria for clinical need for specific OHE were based on oral health status obtained from subjects' dental records in public oral health care between 1982 and 1985.