Effectiveness of Fluoride Varnish in Prevention of Dental Caries in School Children

Summary

Despite the availability of free health dental service in Sri Lanka, the prevalence and severity of dental caries among 6year old school children stand at a very high level according to the results of national oral health survey in 1983/84, 94/95 and 2002/2003. Professional fluoride varnish application has become popular as variety of studies has found that it is an efficient method in reducing dental caries. The simplicity of its application makes it very suitable and practical for use in dental clinics and outreach dental services, especially in young children. Aim of this study is to evaluate the cost effectiveness of 6 monthly application of sodium fluoride varnish in prevention of dental caries in permanent incisors and molars in children between 6 and 7 years in a suburban setting in Sri Lanka. This will be a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. A sample of school children (6-7 years) will be randomized into varnish and control groups. All the children will receive routine caries preventive measures of oral hygiene instructions, dietary advice and professional cleaning. Children in varnish group will receive fluoride varnish professionally applied after prophylaxis every 6 months. Clinical examinations of all children will be performed at the beginning of the study and 1 year and 2 years later. All the caries at the dentinal level of both groups will be stabilized with temporary restorations at the beginning. During this period, each school will be visited four times at 6-month interval for recruitment, dental examinations, and fluoride varnish applications. Recruited children will be randomly assigned to either a treatment (5% NaF varnish) or a control group. Caries examinations will be conducted using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS). The cost for the dental team's school visits; cost involved in the treatment of dental caries throughout the course of the study in both groups will be evaluated and compared at the end of the study. The sample size is calculated as 160 each arm to detect 5% caries change with 80% power. Analysis The effect of intervention will be measured by number of caries prevented. New caries in the usual care and intervention group will be calculated after the completion of the study. The costs for intervention will be estimated. The costs will be estimated for the dental material, time for human resources and indirect costs.

Timeline

Start

2016-08

Primary completion

2018-10-30

Completion

2018-11-01

Publications

• Background American Academy on Pediatric Dentistry; American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy on early childhood caries (ECC): classifications, consequences, and preventive strategies. Pediatr Dent. 2008-2009;30(7 Suppl):40-3. No abstract available.
• Background Gugwad SC, Shah P, Lodaya R, Bhat C, Tandon P, Choudhari S, Patil S. Caries prevention effect of intensive application of sodium fluoride varnish in molars in children between age 6 and 7 years. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2011 Nov 1;12(6):408-13. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10024-1068.
• Background Liu BY, Lo EC, Chu CH, Lin HC. Randomized trial on fluorides and sealants for fissure caries prevention. J Dent Res. 2012 Aug;91(8):753-8. doi: 10.1177/0022034512452278. Epub 2012 Jun 26.
• Background Chu CH, Lo E. Uses of sodium fluoride varnish in dental practice. Ann R Australas Coll Dent Surg. 2008 Jun;19:58-61.
• Background Tickle M, Milsom KM, Donaldson M, Killough S, O'Neill C, Crealey G, Sutton M, Noble S, Greer M, Worthington HV. Protocol for Northern Ireland Caries Prevention in Practice Trial (NIC-PIP) trial: a randomised controlled trial to measure the effects and costs of a dental caries prevention regime for young children attending primary care dental services. BMC Oral Health. 2011 Oct 10;11:27. doi: 10.1186/1472-6831-11-27.
• Background Lewis CW, Johnston BD, Linsenmeyar KA, Williams A, Mouradian W. Preventive dental care for children in the United States: a national perspective. Pediatrics. 2007 Mar;119(3):e544-53. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-1958.
• Background Greig V, Conway DI. Fluoride varnish was effective at reducing caries on high caries risk school children in rural Brazil. Evid Based Dent. 2012;13(3):78-9. doi: 10.1038/sj.ebd.6400874.
• Background Bali RK, Mathur VB, Talwar PP, Chanana HB. National Oral Health Survey and Fluoride Mapping, 2002-2003, India. Delhi: Dental Council of India; 2004
• Background Child Dental Health Survey 2013: England, Wales and Nothern Ireland 2013
• Background State Oral Health Surveys. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2018
• Results Chu CH, Lo EC. A review of sodium fluoride varnish. Gen Dent. 2006 Jul-Aug;54(4):247-53.
• Results Dimitropoulos Y, Holden A, Gwynne K, Irving M, Binge N, Blinkhorn A. An assessment of strategies to control dental caries in Aboriginal children living in rural and remote communities in New South Wales, Australia. BMC Oral Health. 2018 Oct 29;18(1):177. doi: 10.1186/s12903-018-0643-y.
• Results James P, Parnell C, Whelton H. The caries-preventive effect of chlorhexidine varnish in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Caries Res. 2010;44(4):333-40. doi: 10.1159/000315346. Epub 2010 Jul 7.
• Results Moberg Skold U, Petersson LG, Lith A, Birkhed D. Effect of school-based fluoride varnish programmes on approximal caries in adolescents from different caries risk areas. Caries Res. 2005 Jul-Aug;39(4):273-9. doi: 10.1159/000084833.
• Results Neidell M, Shearer B, Lamster IB. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Dental Sealants versus Fluoride Varnish in a School-Based Setting. Caries Res. 2016;50 Suppl 1:78-82. doi: 10.1159/000439091. Epub 2016 Apr 22.

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Indications