Social inequality and caries studied in 1,719 Danish military recruits

Abstract

abstract Information on the social origin, dental health related behavior and patterns of utilization of dental services were collected simultaneously with epidemiologic data on dental caries from 1,719 Danish recruits called‐up for military training at the Karup Air Base during 1972. The findings indicated that the less privileged social groups had more decayed teeth, had lost more teeth and had fewer filled teeth than the more privileged groups. Exposure to the regular care program provided by the School Dental Health Service and the Youth Dental Care Scheme seemed to have a leveling effect among social groups. However, the less privileged social groups had a significantly lower participation rate in the Youth Dental Care Scheme and accounted for a larger number of drop‐outs from the regular care program when compared to the more privileged groups. Rural/urban residency was not found to be associated with the number of DMF teeth or the rate of utilization of the Youth Dental Care Scheme, if selected social variables were held constant.