The burden of restorative dental treatment for children in Third World countries

OBJECTIVE: To analyse whether developing countries have sufficient health dollars to treat existing diseases in general and dental caries in particular in their child population. METHODS: Assessments of the costs of treating existing and future caries by the conventional approach. Analysis of WHO dental databases and spreadsheet calculations of costs based upon population projections, prevalence and trends in patterns of caries. FINDINGS: Even though the caries levels are low and most of the disease occurs on the occlusal and the buccal/lingual surfaces, more than 90% of the dental caries remains untreated in Third World countries. Calculations reveal that to restore the permanent dentition of the child population of low-income nations using traditional amalgam restorative dentistry would cost between pounds 1,024 ($US1618) and pounds 2,224 ($US3513) per 1,000 children of mixed ages from 6 to 18 years. This exceeds the available resources for the provision of an essential public health care package for the children of 15 to 29 low-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: To treat caries with the traditional method of restorative dentistry is beyond the financial capabilities of the majority of low-income nations, as three-quarters of these countries do not even have sufficient resources to finance an essential package of health care services for their children.