Improved oral health of schoolchildren of 16 communities after 8 years of prevention. III. Gingival conditions and calculus.
In 1963, a "Caries-Preventive Program" was started in the canton of Zurich. Within this program supervised toothbrushing exercises (with fluoride preparations) were carried out at school. They were performed 3 times per year by specially trained former dental chairside assistants who also discussed the usefulness of toothbrushing (10 min at each class visit). The teachers were expected to perform 3 additional supervised toothbrushing exercises during the year. The total number of brushing exercises per year was between 4 and 6. A total of 7548 examinations of children were made in 16 communities in 1963/64 1967/68 and 1971/72. The occurrence of gingivitis was studied by considering the symptoms of edematous swelling and discoloration. The frequency of both symptoms decreased over the study period 1963/64 to 1971/72. The frequency of supragingival calculus lingually on lower incisors was also reduced, but this result was not consistently found in the communities. In a subsample, subgingival calculus was studied on bite-wing radiographs. The percentage of children 13 to 15 years of age with such deposits decreased from 9.27 to 3.22.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004245:DMF Index; D003728:Dental Calculus; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D003802:Dentifrices; D005459:Fluorides / Q000494:pharmacology; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010512:Periodontal Index; D012571:School Dentistry / Q000592:standards*; D013557:Switzerland; D014099:Toothbrushing
D003802:Dentifrices; D005459:Fluorides