1980-1990: what a difference ten years have made in the future of pediatric dental practice

A review is provided of developments in pediatric dentistry during the 1980s. In the early part of this decade, a number of factors produced a verified oversupply of pedodontists together with a declining population younger than eighteen years of age. Decreases in dental caries became widespread. Now, a decade later the increase in total number of dentists is slowing and the ratio of dentists-to-population has begun to decline.