Early risk-based OHP, targeted to the families of MS-positive children, can reduce the risk for caries in white-collar families. For blue-collar families, different kinds of methods in caries prevention and support are needed.

Waiting for dental treatment appears to be well-tolerated, as long as the waiting time remains reasonable. Treatment providers seem to have few means with which to rank dental patients into several queues with different urgencies.

In a nonfluoridated community of Finland, where fortnightly fluoride rinsing with 0.2% sodium fluoride has been used for nearly two decades, a total of 313 children 7-8 yr old were recruited and randomly divided into two groups. 206 children completed the 3-yr trial. The control group (n = 94) participated in the rinsing program which included supervised toothbrushings, while the test group (n = 112) received a new fluoride toothpaste tube (0.15% F) for home use every second month. Annual dental recordings, treatment plannings and the treatment itself were all carried out by one clinician. At the end of the study the number of caries-free children of the toothpaste group was lower (P < 0.01) and the caries increment higher (P < 0.05) than that of the mouthrinse group. Out of the mean of four dental visits per child and year some 1.5 were prophylactic by nature. No differences were found between the number of treatment visits, time or prophylactic care of the two groups. Unsupervised use of fluoride toothpaste may not be a sufficient substitute for the school-based fortnightly fluoride rinses and supervised toothbrushings in caries prevention of children with erupting permanent teeth.

There is no direct evidence of moral hazard on the provider side from this study. The observed cost differences between the two sectors may indicate that private practitioners could manage their publicly funded patients more quickly than their private paying patients. On the other hand, private dentists providing more treatment per visit could be explained by private dentists providing more than is needed by increasing the content per visit.