[100,000 more adults visit the dentist: a few results of November 1989]

The aim of the present study was to describe the Norwegian adult population according to: 1. number of teeth present, 2. demand and utilization of dental services, 3. travel time from home to the dentist, 4. dental health behaviour, 5. fear for dental treatment. The analyses were performed on a set of national data collected in 1989, which was representative of the non-institutionalized Norwegian population 20 years and above. The sample size was 1260 individuals. About 75% of the people had 20 teeth or more present. Nine percent were edentulous. Seventy-seven percent who had demanded dental services during the last year. The average expenditure for dental treatment for those who had demanded the services during the last year was NOK 826. Fifty-three percent travelled 15 minutes or less from home to the dentist. Eighteen percent travelled 30 minutes or more. Almost everybody with their own teeth present brushed their teeth regularly once a day. Thirty-three percent of all dentate people used woodsticks regularly once a day, while 20% used toothfloss regularly. Seventy-five percent had no to mild fear of the dentist, while 7% had a strong fear. Fear of the dentist was higher among women than among men. Fear of the dentist decreased by increasing age. Few people, less than 4%, had cancelled a dental appointment because of dental anxiety. There has been an improvement in dental health and dental health behaviour in Norway during the 1970's and 1980's. These improvements are discussed with special attention paid to the findings from the present study.