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Effects of fluoride and regular dental care on personal dental expenditures of young adults in Finland
Author(s) -
Alvesalo Ilpo,
Reisine Susan,
Hay Joel,
Bailit Howard L.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1982.tb00354.x
Subject(s) - medicine , per capita , fluoride , dental care , oral health , dentistry , environmental health , dental health , demography , population , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , sociology
This paper analyzes the relationship among presence of fluoride in the drinking water, oral health and dental expenditures in four towns in Finland. A two‐stage least‐squares model is used to determine the effect of fluoridated water and other independent variables on the number of missing teeth and per capita annual dental service expenditures for 555 adults. The results show that regularity of dental visits is the only significant factor explaining per capita expenditures. In contrast, many factors affect the number of missing teeth; most importantly, the number of dentists per capita, level of fluoride, age, education, use of services and smoking habits. These findings suggest I hat fluoride significantly improves oral health status but does not reduce adult per capita dental expenditures.