title: The Chief Scientist reports ... Monitoring the dental health of Scottish children using routinely collected data.
abstract: Since the introduction in 1990 of the capitation scheme of payment for the dental care of children, information for those children registered in the scheme has been collected by General Dental Practitioners on a regular (usually annual) basis using form GP17C. These forms are processed centrally by the Dental Practice Division in Edinburgh. The information collected includes data on the dental caries experience of the child as assessed by the dentist. This paper considers some of the problems associated with the collection of this data, as currently undertaken, and its potential usefulness in monitoring the dental health of Scottish children.
authors.affiliation: Dental Health Services Research Unit, Dental School, University of Dundee.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Pitts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004245:DMF Index; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration