[An estimation of the future demand in orthodontic needs and of the appropriate number of orthodontists for the period 1989-1999].

The present study is a repetition of two previous orthodontic Gallup polls (Gehrig et al. 1981 and Roh et al. 1986). It was conducted with the goal to reactualize the orthodontic workload in Switzerland in 1989 and to produce prognostic figures for 1994 and 1999. 1092 questionnaires have been sent out and 53.1% were returned duly completed. The number of orthodontic specialists, 79 in 1984, has increased to 104 in 1989. Despite this augmentation and the additional factor of an increase from 152 to 173 new cases per year per specialist, all specialists together treated only 29.5% of the newly started cases. This figure was 22.6% in 1984. The total of Switzerland's orthodontic needs is still not covered and it will therefore be necessary to train 29 new specialists until 1994 and 34 additional specialists in the period 1994 to 1999. This means that 4 to 5 new specialists have to be trained in Switzerland per year over the next ten years.