The use of school milk as a vehicle for fluoride in Knowsley, UK; an evaluation of effectiveness

Abstract

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.

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

Method: 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.

Conclusion: 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.