Dental health and the application of geographical methodology

Reorganisation of dental services in Britain gives new opportunities for planning. Geographical methodology provides new techniques. An elementary spatial analysis of variations in dental health in Newcastle Area Health Authority (Teaching) shows that dental health varies with availability and access to treatment facilities. Opposite types of geographical distribution of community (School) and general dental services are illustrated showing location biases for each type of service. The evaluation of the spatial distribution of dental services is shown to be basic to planning and a key to improved dental health.