An assessment of capitation in the General Dental Service Contract. 1. The level of caries and its treatment in regularly attending children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the dental health of regularly attending 7-8- and 14-15-year-olds registered under capitation in 1994. To compare the dental health of regularly attending 14-15-year-olds registered under capitation in 1994 with regularly attending patients of a similar age treated under fee-for-service in 1989.

DESIGN

Random samples of 7-8- and 14-15-year-olds. Data were recorded on decayed and filled teeth, extracted for caries and teeth fissure sealed.

RESULTS

Prevalence of caries in first permanent molars of 7-8-year-olds was 15-16%. Mean caries experience of deciduous posterior teeth was 1.78-2.51. 83-86% had no more than two untreated, decayed, posterior deciduous teeth. Prevalence of caries in 14-15-year-olds was 44-60% while mean caries experience was 1.29-1.83. Reductions in caries experience of 30-39% in 14-15-year-olds for 1989-1994 were due mainly to falls of 42-45% in mean numbers of teeth filled. Increases in mean numbers of decayed, untreated teeth were 0.07-0.11. The proportion of patients with teeth extracted because of caries was 2.4-3.8%. 30-50% had fissure sealants in 1994 compared with 13-25% in 1989.

CONCLUSIONS

Dental health of regularly attending capitation patients is generally satisfactory with little evidence of 'supervised neglect'. Prevalence of fissure sealants has increased while the numbers of filled teeth has reduced. Numbers of decayed, untreated teeth have increased but the numbers of teeth extracted for caries have remained low.