Role of health education among services rendered by dental personnel in Finland

The quantity and origins of dental health education information were surveyed in June 1973 by interviews with a sample comprising 505 persons drawn to cover the total Finnish population aged 15 years and over. The interview revealed that tooth extraction was the most frequent (43%) of the measures performed during the last visit to dentist and tooth filling was the measure second in frequency (41%). Rare measures were periodontal treatment (13%) and teaching of home care (2%). Radio and television were the most frequently mentioned sources of information (47%); however, the evaluations of the reliability of information on dental health education in the mass media were skeptical. Dental service personnel was a not minor source of information (33%) and its effectiveness was recognized. Although dental health education performed on the personal level is a great challenge, which should be accepted by the whole dental personnel, a total of 58% of the interviewees were of the opinion that they had not received sufficient information on dental home care.