title: Effect of supervised use of a fluoride toothpaste on caries incidence in pre-school children.
abstract: Caries prevalence of children living in Helsinki is low and little further reduction has been seen during recent years. The aim of the study was to investigate whether a supervised daily brushing at school with a fluoride toothpaste containing 1.2% sodium monofluorophosphate reduced caries incidence in a well-controlled group of nursery-school children with low caries prevalence. A total of 87 children from two nursery schools formed the test group. A group of children matched for age, baseline dfs and follow-up time, who had attended the same nursery schools just before starting this prospective study and who had brushed their teeth daily at school without toothpaste, formed a retrospective control group. After the follow-up time (mean 1.4 years), the total number of new carious surfaces was 23 in the test group (mean 0.3) and 83 in the control group (mean 0.9); the difference was significant. In the test group 72% and in the control group 62% of children were caries-free after the follow-up period. The results suggest that the use of a fluoride toothpaste as an extra daily prophylaxis reduces caries incidence in pre-school children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Orthodontics, Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hölttä
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alaluusua
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005460:Fluorides, Topical / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014099:Toothbrushing; D014100:Toothpastes / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D005460:Fluorides, Topical; D014100:Toothpastes