title: In my opinion: the specialist in community dentistry or dental public health.
abstract: The traditional role of the Principal Dental Officer will disappear under the 1993 health-service reforms. The specialist in Community Dentistry will be required to define need, suggest appropriate solutions from available resources to the need, and to monitor outcome. These recommendations should be based upon local knowledge. In the immediate short term, the design, implementation, and evaluation of pilot projects will be an important role. Most of the functions of the specialist will be required within the Regional Health Authorities, but some Crown Health Enterprises will also require these skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dental Health, School of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin.
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Treasure
mesh_terms: D003149:Community Dentistry; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D011636:Public Health Dentistry; D013218:State Dentistry