Abstract
This chapter presents the methodology of health economic evaluations within the field of oral health and more specifically discusses the need for cost-effectiveness analyses of various caries preventive programs. It also deals with prioritized questions of limited resources and effective implementation of caries preventive technologies. As the societal cost of caries preventive interventions may not equal the direct cost of the intervention, the cost-effectiveness results depend also on the perspective and time-horizon of the analysis, and several such key issues are presented. The chapter also presents some basics about simulation modeling techniques and how to deal with uncertainty in health economic evaluations. An example of a cost-effectiveness analysis of a caries preventive program and aspects to consider is furthermore provided, to guide in the economic evaluation. Some evidences of the cost-effectiveness of various caries preventive programs are presented. However, there are some methodological weaknesses in many of the studies, and more research is needed to determine the value of such programs.