The impact of attendance patterns on oral health in a general dental practice.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the impact of attendance patterns on oral health in the context of government policy on dental care and registration in the UK.


METHODS
The data involved 643 consecutive patient responses to a questionnaire on dental health taken from a survey that was conducted during 1998 in an urban area of Swansea. The survey continued for a period of six months and covered patients of 18 years of age and over, responding to a questionnaire on the subjective oral health status indicators including the pattern of their attendance to dental practices.


RESULTS
Regular dental care attendance has a significant positive impact on dental health while its impact on the number of teeth present is insignificant. Regular attendees also suffer significantly less from the severity, prevalence, social and psychological impacts of dental health problems.


CONCLUSIONS
Regular dental attendance is associated with better oral health when regularity of care is defined as a visit within a two-year period. The rationality of a 15 month registration period is therefore debatable in the context of developing equitable services.
Richards
W
W
Community General Dental Practice, School of Care Sciences, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, CF37 1DK, Wales, UK. wrichard@glam.ac.uk
Ameen
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006291:Health Policy; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000503:physiopathology; D006113:United Kingdom; D014504:Urban Health; D014852:Wales