Two and a half-year outcome of caries-preventive programs offered to groups of children in the Solntsevsky district of Moscow

Abstract

This study examined the 2.5-year outcome of preventive programs - based on the Nexö method - offered to three groups of children from Solntsevsky, a district of Moscow. Study group A consisted of 45 3-year-olds, study group B of 50 6-year-olds, and study group C of 50 11-year-olds. A similar number of children were selected as control groups and they followed the normal dental service provided by the local Health Service System in the district. The caries-preventive programs offered to the study groups were based on: (1) education of the child, parents and teachers in the caries disease, (2) training in toothbrushing. In addition, the children in study groups B and C were offered professional plaque removal, applications of sodium fluoride (2%) and sealant applications according to individual needs. The children in groups B and C were clinically examined in March 1994 (baseline) after 1 and 2.5 years, respectively. Because of the age of the children in group A, these children were only examined once, after the study had been completed. After 2.5 years the children in all three study groups had improved their oral health status significantly compared to the children in the control group. The caries experience among the children in study group A was about half of that observed among children in the control group (4.91 def-s versus 8.60 def-s). The program was highly effective in controlling dental caries in the permanent dentition among the children in the study groups, who finished with a mean DMF-S of 0.28 (group B) and 3.12 (group C) compared to 2.24 and 6.35 among the children in the corresponding control groups. Nearly all the children used fluoridated toothpaste. The mean number of visits to the clinic decreased from year 1 to year 2 (5 versus 3.4 in study group B and 4.5 versus 3.3 in study group C). In conclusion, the preventive programs were highly effective with regard to improving the level of oral hygiene, and thereby reducing or even controlling the plaque-induced disease activity.