Letters
Future of preventive dentistry
EDITOR, - Aubrey Sheiham presents an interesting picture of dentistry in Britain today, but his view that we could do with fewer dentists and less treatment is one sided.1 At present, the demand for dental services is still higher than the supply in areas away from centres of population in the south east of England. The Netherlands, which shared Sheiham's philosophy and closed all but one of its dental schools, is now reopening two despite having one of the lowest levels of dental caries in the world.
Seaton suggests that dentists should do fewer fillings, but the number of restorations in each course of treatment carried out in the General Dental Services has reduced in line with the prevalence of dental caries.2 Evidence exists that, far from patients being overtreated, a degree of undertreatment exists, especially in the young age groups.3 Seaton also omits to say that the number of
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- The future of preventive dentistry
- A Sheiham
BMJ 1994 309: 214-215.[Extract] [Full Text]
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