ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To validate a model framework comparing resources required for activities in the Community Dental Service. The framework consisted of five levels of care of increasing complexity for six groups of patients. The patient groups were: children with behavioural problems, mentally disabled patients, anxious adults, paedodontic patients, medically compromised and physically disabled patients. DESIGN: Delphi study using two sequential questionnaires. Participants were asked to rate the difficulty of 29 different treatments on a scale from 1 to 100. PARTICIPANTS: Six clinical directors and eleven senior dental officers working in the Community Dental Service in the North West of England. RESULTS: Seventeen of the 29 treatments were rated at the level of care predicted by the model. Nine were rated lower and three higher. Within the patient groups the order of increasing complexity, predicted by the model, was verified with only one exception. CONCLUSIONS: The research confirmed that it is possible to measure CDS activity in a rational way. Consensus was reached on a suitable framework which was simpler than the original model in having only four levels of care. The use of the modified model is now being tested in the Community Dental Service.
