Change in dental treatment needs in an urban pediatric population, 1977 to 1987

Decreasing caries activity in children has adversely affected the education programs in clinical pediatric dentistry. This paper presents a program designed to facilitate the educational requirements of undergraduate dental students as it meets the dental needs of an urban pediatric population in Kansas City, MO. Changes in dental treatment needs that have occurred in this population over the past decade are evaluated. Dental records of 760 children from four urban schools were examined; data from the dental records were categorized according to the type and number of operative procedures completed. Results indicated a significant decrease in the percentage of patients requiring simple or complex amalgams from 1977 to 1987. Similar decreases were noted in other operative procedures. However, comparisons between the proportion of patients requiring multiple operative procedures indicate less changes during the ten-year period. These results suggest that there is still a percentage of patients requiring substantial dental care as a result of dental caries.