Detail	Fee‐for‐service only	Control
Dental practice‐level variables for minimisation
Number of partners
Single‐handed	13 (39)	14 (40)
Two/three partners	10 (30)	9 (26)
Four or more	10 (30)	12 (34)
Deprivation area of dental practice – n (%)
4	18 (55)	16 (46)
5	8 (24)	10 (29)
6/7 (most deprived)	7 (21)	9 (26)
Restorative fissure sealant claims 2002 ‐ n (%)
None	9 (27)	11 (31)
1 ‐ 5	10 (30)	8 (23)
6 or more	14 (42)	16 (46)
Throughput 11‐ to 13‐year‐olds ‐ n (%)
Low (48 ‐ 95)	9 (27)	9 (26)
Medium (96 ‐ 143)	14 (42)	11 (31)
High (> 143)	10 (30)	5 (43)
Other dental practice/dentist‐level variables
Child patients with sealant on any second permanent molar – mean % (SD)	32.8 (26.5)	38.4 (28.9)
Child patients with sealant on any first permanent molar – mean % (SD)	10.7 (16.6)	13.4 (15.1)
Cluster size ‐ median (interquartile range)	19 (22, 24)	20 (22, 24)
High population density (> 100 people/hectare) ‐ n (%)	8 (25)	9 (25)
Hygienist in dental team ‐ n (%)	14 (42)	16 (46)
Gender of dentist ‐ n (%)
Female	12 (36)	15 (43)
Male	21 (64)	20 (36)
Dentist working part‐time (< 9 sessions/week) ‐ n (%)	6 (19)	6 (17)
Number of years qualified as a dentist ‐ mean (SD)	18.9 (8.6)	19.7 (8.2)
Patient‐level variables
Age of children ‐ mean (SD)	13.21 (0.96)	13.24 (0.98)
Gender of children ‐ n (%)
Female	348 (49.9)	368 (50.4)
Male	350 (50.1)	362 (49.6)
Deprivation area of dental practice – n (%)
4	375 (53.7)	334 (45.8)
5	173 (24.8)	220 (30.1)
6/7 (most deprived)	150 (21.5)	176 (24.1)
Sealant on any second permanent molar – n (%)	75 (10.7)	98 (13.4)
Sealant on any first permanent molar – n (%)	229 (32.8)	280 (38.4)
n: number of participants SD: standard deviation