Organization and problems in emergency dental care at Finnish health centres.

The Public Dental Service in Finland is, in principle, responsible for emergency dental services for the population. The organization of the prevailing emergency care system in the 215 health centres was studied. 90% of the health centres had some kind of emergency services, usually during regular working hours. Few health centres offered treatment outside normal hours or had a telephone-based back-up system. The main problems reported were the unpredictability of the need for emergency services, great variations in the number of patients, the heavy work load created by continuing treatment of emergencies, and shortage of personnel.