The use of school milk as a vehicle for fluoride in Knowsley, UK; an evaluation of effectiveness.
OBJECTIVE
To compare caries in children initially aged 3 to 5 years who had participated for four years in a fluoridated school milk programme with a group of children in a similar community drinking non-fluoridated milk.


METHODS
A four-year longitudinal study measuring caries experience and caries increment in primary molars and caries experience in permanent molars and incisors.


METHODS
478 children in Knowsley (test group) and 396 in Skelmersdale (comparison group) were examined for caries (dmft/dfs) at baseline in 1997. Of these, 318 in Knowsley and 233 in Skelmersdale were re-examined at follow-up (dmft/dfs and DMFT/DFS) in 2001.


RESULTS
The mean ages at baseline of the children from the test and comparison groups were 4.7 and 4.8 years respectively. The baseline dmft/dfs was 1.73/2.51 in the test group and 1.29/2.15 in the comparison group. The 4-year dmft/dfs mean increments were 2.28/4.49 and 1.96/4.12 in test and comparison groups respectively. The DMFT/DFS at age 7-9 years in the test and comparison groups were 0.40/0.45 and 0.40/0.55 respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The fluoridated school milk scheme, as configured in Knowsley. Merseyside, did not reduce caries within the primary dentition and, at best, had a small clinical impact on the permanent dentition up to 8 years of age.
Ketley
C E
CE
Department of Clinical Dental Sciences, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
West
J L
JL
Lennon
M A
MA
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D004739:England; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000473:pathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008892:Milk; D008963:Molar / Q000473:pathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012571:School Dentistry; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology
D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005459:Fluorides