Policy implications of the epidemiology of dental diseases for the prevention and control of periodontal disease: the North Carolina studies.

The North Carolina Dental Manpower Study indicated that periodontal disease was widespread and little was being done to control the disease. We have continued to address issues identified by the Dental Manpower Study in order to better understand the high prevalence of periodontal disease. Drawing from the theoretical basis of behavioral science and the clinical and epidemiological knowledge of periodontal disease, we have planned a strategy for testing the feasibility for controlling periodontal disease through dental health services. Only when attention to periodontal disease pervades the thinking and behavior of all segments of the dental care system--professional education, professional certification and regulation, financing mechanisms, consumers, and dental research--will factors be totally conducive to controlling this problem.