l~troduvtloa A particular .problem that besets the expansion .of dental health education isthe shortage dental staff to carry out relevant projects. .In this situation .it is i:fiperative that such staff, as are available, should be.used as effectively as possible. With this in mind, the policy the .Kent Area Health Authority Community Dental Service .is to .concentrate resources on community .leaders when carrying out teaching sessions, The long standing system providing dental health education learning sessions for.school children 'has been almost.completely .abandoned in favour projects for teachers, ,nurses, piaa rmacis~, doctors and youth group leaders. I t is anticipated that these -people will .be able to pass on what they have learnt to.a much wider section the 'community th~in the den.tal health educator .acting ~lone. One the key difficulties in teaching, mature 'individuals, often with their own professional expertise, .is the extent o f their existing knowledge, attitude and attributes-:be they correct or incorrect, C,le~rly: it would be ~vasteful an~l?boring to teach that which is already well .established, However, it is often necessary to:. reinforce information which is not :fully appreciated ~and. it is certainly .essential :to ,introduce. new knowledge and -correct misinformation. • It Would.be .most.helpful if the learning needs each individual couldbe catered for and to,this end a branched programmed learning system:is under consideration, Meanwhile, in reality the dental :health .educator :is in.the main .asked to .. present a..lecture or to leada discussion with,a particular Fairly homogeneous group. Such a group is usual!y either attend: lag a course which dental health educ/~tion, forms :part-or is involved in a .one sesssion seminar on the subject. Therefore whilst responding to individual prOblems .by ,question and • answer !he. educator can at most e.~ter only:for ihe general needs of.the group dudng any formal pl:.esentation. For this to be successful itis necessary to establish what items ofknowledge and understanding -are :.~mpp~ant for each particular group a n d h o w far ithey .already know :them. • 'Once 'the educator ' establishes this base line-data he can c0nstructhis presentation with the corr.,ect emphasis, :bearing ,in mind the learning-.objectives for / the :particular groula~ F o r .instance ; the objectives for a ,group-.Of midwives would vary from those secondary school ~teachers. ,In. an:attempt to achieve :these aims, .:a 'pre-¢ourse objective .testyeas devised to test the .fore:knowledge,-of a .particular:group a n d t o f o r m the core of t~hesubsequent course. A • pOst-course objective test was constructed to asse6s the effeetiveiiess the course,in relation I0 the -data obtalned~in,the originaltest=One example the use iis described.