title: Economic evaluation of a risk-based caries prevention program in preschool children.
abstract: We have previously reported that, in young children, a risk-based caries prevention program compared with conventional prevention has a good caries-preventive effect. The present study aimed to assess the economic aspects of this program. We used the presence of mutans streptococci in plaque (Dentocult-SM) and/or the presence of incipient carious lesions at 2 years of age for risk assessment, and measured the outcome of caries (yes/no) at the age of 5 years. Dental assistants carried out the screening and preventive work. The economic analysis included the actual running costs of the program during the 3-year follow-up based on the time spent on dental visits. The costs per child per 3 years were significantly lower in the risk-based group (54 euros) than in the conventional prevention group (69 euros) (Student's t test, P = 0.004). If a dentist with an assistant had done all the work, the costs would have been twice as high. Compared to conventional prevention, the results suggest that risk-based prevention can be effective in reducing both costs and dental caries in preschool children, provided that the screening and preventive measures are delegated to preventive dental assistants.
authors.affiliation: Municipal Health Center, Korpilahti-Muurame, Korpilahti, Finland.
authors.forename: Jorma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jokela
authors.forename: Kaisu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pienihäkkinen
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003363:Cost Control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004245:DMF Index; D003726:Dental Assistants / Q000191:economics; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000191:economics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics; D015397:Program Evaluation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification