A 5-year retrospective analysis of employer-provided dental care for Finnish male industrial workers

The treatment-mix, treatment time, and dental status of 268 male industrial workers entitled to employer-provided dental care were studied. The data were collected from treatment records of the covered workers over the 5-year period 1989-93. Treatment time was based on clinical treatment time recorded per patient visit, and the treatment procedure codes were reclassified into a treatment-mix according to American Dental Association categories, with a modification combining endodontics and restorative treatment. The mean number of check-ups followed by prescribed treatment (treatment courses) during the 5 years was 3.7 among those who had entered the in-house dental care program prior to the monitored period (old attenders). Their treatment time was stable, 57-63 min per year, while the first-year mean treatment time (170 min) of those who had entered the program during the study period (new attenders) was significantly higher (P<0.01) than the 5-year mean of the old attenders (61 min). Over the first 2 years, the treatment-mix of the new attenders showed a rise in diagnostic and preventive procedures from one-third to about one-half of all procedures, as it was for the old attenders. The new attenders' mean number of carious teeth (2.7), registered at the initial check-up visit, paralleled the mean recently demonstrated in the similar non-covered population. It was significantly higher than the 5-year mean of the old attenders (0.5) (P<0.001), but declined to the same level after the first year of treatment. It was concluded that the studied program seemed to contribute to a stabilization of treatment-mix, and to the establishment of a shorter annual treatment time within the first 2 years of treatment.