Orthodontic treatment priorities in the Danish Child Dental Health Services.
In 1980, the population of Danish schoolchildren in grade 9 formed the first cohort which, throughout all school grades, had been covered by the Child Dental Health Services, including free orthodontic care. National statistics on prevalence of malocclusion for this cohort of about 60 000 children in grades 3, 6, and 9 (approximate ages: 9, 12, and 15 years) were compared with corresponding frequencies in a population of schoolchildren in the 1960s among whom orthodontic treatment was rare. From the comparison it is inferred that treatment priority, based on professionally defined need, had been given to occlusal anomalies of the incisor segment, transverse anomalies of the lateral segments, and crowding.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D003718:Denmark; D006285:Health Planning; D006292:Health Priorities; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011636:Public Health Dentistry