Utilization of the Danish Youth Dental Care Scheme among 1655 16-22-year-old males and females.

The present study attempts to establish operational criteria which can be used in the evaluation of the Youth Dental Care Scheme (YDCS) established in Denmark in 1965. The utilization of the YDCS is studied in a population of 1655 16-22-year-old males and females all of whom had attended the Public Child Dental Care in the municipality of Aarhus. Data on enrollment and use of the YDCS were collected using an official data base established with the purpose of administering the YDCS and by a mailed questionnaire. The study showed that enrollment rate was approximately 80% for those individuals who had just left Public Child Dental Care. For individuals who had left Public Child Dental Care 4-5 years earlier, the enrollment rate was 74%. Enrollment rate at a given time did, however, prove not to be a valid measure for the utilization. The study thus showed that only 65% of the individuals had been constant users for 4-5 years after they had left Public Child Dental Care. Women were more frequently constant users than men. Individuals from the higher social groups were more frequently constant users than individuals from the lower social groups.