The epidemiology of dental caries and its impact on the operative dentistry curriculum.

Existing demographic and epidemiologic data are used to project the number of hours of operative dentistry treatment needed by all age groups in the year 2000. The findings suggest that calls to reduce the operative dentistry curriculum because of a decline in the need for single tooth restorative services may be premature, despite the recent caries decline in children and adolescents. The need for operative dentistry treatment is projected to increase until the 21st century, and the nature of this need has implications for the content of operative dentistry curricula.