Detail	Capitation	Fee‐for‐service
Variables for matching pairs of areas
Mean number of fillings per course of treatment provided for 10‐ to 14‐year‐olds (calculated differently in England and Scotland)	S:1.03 N: 0.67 B: 0.68 G: 0.62	D: 0.96 H: 0.66 W: 0.67 F: 0.69
Population per dentist	S: 5041 N: 4029 B: 2657 G: 4010	D: 4629 H: 4000 W: 3286 F: 3588
Percentage of households with more than one person per room (calculated differently in England and Scotland)	S: 4.1 N: 1.9 B: 2.4 G: 32.8	D: 3.2 H: 2.3 W: 2.4 F: 32.4
Fluoride in water supply	S: No N: Yes B: No G: No	D: No H: Yes W: No F: No
Patient‐level variables with differences between the matched pairs
Mean dmft
5‐ to 6‐year‐olds	S: 3.6** B: 1.3**	D: 2.8** W: 0.8**
8‐ to 9‐year‐olds	S: 4.6* B: 2.7**	D: 3.7* W: 1.9**
Mean DMFT
8‐ to 9‐year‐olds	S: 0.9* B: 0.3	D: 0.7* W: 0.3
11‐ to 12‐year‐olds	S: 2.0* B: 0.9	D: 1.6* W: 1.0
14‐ to 15‐year‐olds	S: 4.5 B: 2.7	D: 4.1 W: 2.6
Dental practice/dentist‐level variables with differences between the matched pairs (no consistent patterns were found across all four pairs)
Proportion of single‐handed to group practices	B: lower	W: higher
Estimates submitted per dentist	S: higher	D: lower
Estimates for children only submitted per dentists	S: no difference N: lower	D: no difference H: higher
* P ≤ 0.05 ** P ≤ 0.01 dmft: decayed/missing/filled primary teeth DMFT: decayed/missing/filled permanent teeth Health service administrative areas: B: Bromley; D: Doncaster; F: Fife; G: Grampian; H: Hereford and Worcester; N: Norfolk; S: Salford; W: Wycombe