title: Summary of: recruitment and participation in pre-school and school-based fluoride varnish pilots - the South Central experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess recruitment and participation within seven school/pre-school-based programmes for fluoride varnish applications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Year-long pilots were undertaken in six primary schools (ages four to five years) and one pre-school (aged three years). Three applications of fluoride varnish were carried out coinciding with the three school terms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In spite of intensive recruitment efforts, only 78% of the total 589 children were enrolled in the pilot; 15% had to be excluded because no response could be obtained from their parents. At the end of 12 months, 79% of enrolled children (62% of total) had received all three applications. Children did not receive applications because they were absent on the days when the dental team were carrying out the screening or fluoride varnish applications, were ill, or because the child refused. The highest refusal rate was in the pre-school.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Younger children need to be targeted if improvement in the oral health of five-year-olds is to be achieved, the only dental measure in the Public Health Outcomes Framework, but they were less likely to cooperate. More research is needed on approaches to maximise participation in community programmes such as this, if they are to achieve significant population-level improvements in child dental health.
authors.affiliation: Dental Public Health Bristol University.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drugan
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005460:Fluorides, Topical / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D012572:School Health Services
chemical_list: D005460:Fluorides, Topical