Comparison of use of dental services by finnish immigrants and Swedes using national health statistics.

Dental statistics and treatment information collected by the National Social Insurance Board (NSIB) since the Dental Insurance Scheme was introduced in Sweden in 1974, give a unique opportunity to study the use of dental services by the adult population. Earlier studies showed that adult Finnish immigrants utilized dental services less, and had a greater need of dental care, than the Swedish population. The possible confounding effects of age and social class were not, however, controlled. The aim of this study was to compare use of dental services and dental treatment performed in matched groups of Finnish immigrants and Swedes using central statistics. All Finnish citizens between 17 and 64 yr old born on the 20th of any month and living in the county of Stockholm in 1975, altogether 1378 persons, were selected from the population register. For each Finn a Swedish "social twin" was selected with respect to age, sex and occupation. Information about use of dental services and treatment performed during 1975 was collected from the patient register at the NSIB. The study showed that Finnish immigrants in 1975 visited a dentist less often than the corresponding Swedish group. Those Finnish immigrants who received treatment had had more comprehensive and more expensive care than the Swedish comparison group. The study shows that there were significant differences in use of dental services by and treatment performed on Finnish immigrants and Swedes even when differences in demographic and socioeconomic distribution were controlled.