Dental health status associated with documented dental attendance patterns in adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the dental health of adolescents who exhibited four different patterns of documented dental attendance in regard to caries experience and types of treatment they received.


METHODS
The adolescents were categorised according to whether they had been asymptomatic or symptomatic attenders in childhood and whether this had changed in early adolescence. Asymptomatic attenders were those who attended for examinations at least twice in any three year period. Symptomatic attenders were those who attended for examinations less frequently than this.


METHODS
Treatment notes of 254, 13-15-year-old subjects who reported they were patients at one of 12 general dental practices or two community clinics were used to document attendance during the previous six years.


RESULTS
Those who attended asymptomatically throughout the study period of six years had fewer teeth extracted and more sealed teeth than those who attended symptomatically.


CONCLUSIONS
Among adolescents dental attendance in the absence of symptoms is associated with fewer missing teeth and wider provision of fissure sealants.
Hawley
G M
GM
Department of Dental Public Health, Central Manchester Healthcare Trust, Moss Side Health Centre, UK.
Holloway
P J
PJ
Davies
R M
RM
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants