Effect of fluoridation on the cost of dental treatment among urban Scottish schoolchildren.

Dental treatment needs of 230 children aged 4 and 5 years and 288 aged 9 and 10 years who were lifetime residents of two towns, one fluoridated and the other non-fluoridated, were costed on the Resource Related Index. This index is based on the British National Health Service scale of fees for general dental practitioners. The overall cost of dental treatment required by 4- and 5-year-olds in the fluoridated community was 45% less than in the non-fluoridated community, The corresponding difference for 9- and 10-year-olds was 47%. The differences in the cost of treatment for dental caries only (fillings, extractions and general anaesthetics) were 56% in 4- and 5-year-olds and 76% in 9- and 10-year-olds in favour of the fluoridated community. In the latter community, no child examined required dental extractions under general anaesthesia. Certain assumptions made in the study and the implications of the findings in terms of cost savings brought about by fluoridation are discussed.