Enhancement of high risk children's utilization of dental services

One hundred twenty-four children identified as needing care in two elementary schools by a routine department of public health screening were randomly assigned to either a standard treatment group (notification to parents by a form letter) or an experimental group that added personal contact to the standard treatment. Overall, 53 percent of the subjects in the experimental condition who needed treatment at the initial screening had received this treatment at follow-up, while only 12 per cent of the subjects in the control group had received needed treatment.