The demand for dental care: an assessment.

This paper reviews the existing literature on the demand for dental care and assesses its implications for the U.K., where such analysis has been lacking to date. The characteristics of the U.K. dental system are briefly outlined, and some observations on the theory of the demand for dental care are made. The main part of the paper consists of a review of empirical work, most of which is North American or Scandinavian. It is concluded that there is as yet no consensus on several empirical matters of major importance. Areas for future research, both in the U.K. and more widely, are presented.