A review of a child population dental preventive programme in Halton and St Helens.
BACKGROUND
An evaluation was undertaken to measure the dental health of five cohorts of 5-year-old children living in Halton and St Helens, each cohort having had a different length of time they were exposed to a population dental prevention programme before their fifth birthday.


METHODS
The dental health of each of five consecutive cohorts of 5-year-old children was measured epidemiologically using standardised methods.


RESULTS
The mean level of active decay (dt) in the cohort that had the greatest exposure to the preventive intervention (cohort 5, 2011/12) was 0.83, whereas the mean level of active decay in the cohort with no exposure to the preventive programme (cohort 1, 2007/8) was 1.07. This represents a reduction of 22% in the mean level of active decay in 5-year-olds. There was also a 5.9% absolute increase in the number of 5-year-old children free from decay experience between cohorts 5 and 1. Children living in Halton and St Helens with postcodes in the more socially deprived index of multiple deprivation (IMD) tertiles gained the most from the programme. Comparing cohort 5 and cohort 1, the increase in the proportion of children free from decay was greatest in IMD tertiles 1 and 2 and least in IMD tertile 3 (least socially disadvantaged).


CONCLUSIONS
Following a four-year population dental preventive programme the dental health of 5-year-old children living in Halton and St Helens has improved and dental health inequalities have reduced. As there was no control group, the effects seen are associative and cannot be assumed to be causative.
Honorary Professor of Population Health, 1829 Building, Countess of Chester Hospital, Liverpool Road, Chester, CH4 7 LT.
K M
KM
Milsom
Director of Primary Care Commissioning, NHS Halton & St Helens.
A
A
Rice
Dental Public Health Coordinator, NHS Halton & St Helens.
P
P
Kearney-Mitchell
Dental Nurse, Bridgewater Community NHS Trust.
L
L
Kellett
D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology