The outcome of school dental screening in two suburban districts of Greater Manchester, UK.

School dental screenings have been carried out in the community dental service for over eighty years but there have been very few evaluations of their outcome. The community dental service is now required to provide treatment only for those who have experienced difficulty in obtaining treatment in the general dental service. A follow up procedure to school dental screenings was designed to ensure that as many children in need of treatment as possible attended a general dental practitioner. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure in persuading school children to attend a general dental practitioner. Data on the outcome of this follow up procedure were collected between May 1990 and March 1991 in Oldham and Tameside and Glossop. Of the 47,776 pupils screened, 10,925 were considered to require treatment. General dental practitioners confirmed subsequent attendance by 2,083 (19 per cent) and attendance at community dental service clinics was confirmed for a further 363 (3 per cent). A further 2,161 (20 per cent) were found to have received treatment at a rescreening held two to three months later. Of those referred for treatment, 4,607 children (42 per cent) had received it within the three months following the screening, the majority having received care in the general dental service.