[Dental health and treatment pattern of Norwegian recruits in 1959]

The present study describes the treatment pattern of a group of 381 recruits aged 20 in 1959. All men had taken part in the school dental service to the age of 14; 41% continued with regular care, 33% reported occasional treatments (2--4 times), and 12% no care from the of 14 (Table 1). The mean number of decayed (primary and secondary lesions), filled, and extracted teeth was found to be close to 21 in the various treatment groups (Table 2). The findings indicate a mean DMFT between 16 and 20 in the regular treatment group. When the recruits were grouped according to treatment pattern and the number of decayed teeth, the mean number of filled teeth was close to 15 in the sub-grojps with regular treatment (Fig 2). The mean number of filled teeth in the regular treatment groupd may be used as parameter in future evaluations.