[Functional bucco-dental restoration cost for adolescents aged 16 to 20 in the Geneva resident population (survey 1970-72). I. -- Description of estimates (author's transl)].

In 1970/72, a random sample of 1392 adolescents of the population irrespective of nationality and sex has been drawn, using computer equipment, from the Geneva (Switzerland) resident population, ages 16 to 20 years. The sampling fraction was 13%. These adolescents were interviewed for case history, and then underwent clinical, radiological and photographic examination by a medically trained team including a dentist and a dental hygienist. The sampling had been designed so as to avoid selection regarding the adolescents' sex and occupation (student/apprentice/young labourer) or the parents' socio-professional category. Comprehensive epidemiological data concerning the main dental and periodontal diseases are thus recorded to allow estimation of the individual cost for a complete functional restoration of the dentition and the periodontium (orthodontic treatments not included). The estimating arithmetic is performed on the computer by means of an original program worked out especially for cost estimation referring to an approved list of fees for medico-dental treatments. The first part of the article, as published below, reports the relative frequency distributions of estimated cost depending on age, sex and occupation separately as well as jointly. Moreover, these distributions are summarized by their basic descriptive statistics (medians, quartiles, ranges, extreme values, etc.). At first sight, it seems that by and large the median cost is higher for boys than for girls, and that there is evidence for an increasing trend with respect to age; young labourers rank somehow between students and apprentices. The data seem to exhibit a decreasing trend of median cost as regards ascending socio-professional category. Besides this trend is maintained when duration of caries prophylaxy by means of fluorine tablets intake is accounted for. Average number of daily tooth brushings also positively correlates with median cost, whereas the latter does not seem to depend very closely on time elapsed since the latest appointment with the adolescent's dentist. In another connection, the present paper indicates the overall cost (as well as cost for certain treatment subgroups) estimated for the sample on the one hand, for the whole population on the other hand.