Evaluation of Pacific Islands Early Childhood Caries Prevention Project: Republic of the Marshall Islands

Abstract

Objectives-This communication reports an outcomes evaluation of the Pacific Islands Early Childhood Caries Prevention Project.Methods-The evaluation includes children in three conditions: (1) three times per school year topical fluoride varnish; (2) varnish plus twice per day toothbrushing; and (3) intervention 2 plus three times per day xylitol containing gummy bear snacks at school and home visits to encourage parental involvement. For this evaluation, groups 2 and 3 have been combined.Results-One year after project implementation, mean deft was 10.3 (SD=4.3) teeth for group 1 and 8.2 (SD=4.0) teeth for the combination of groups 2 and 3 (p<.05). Twenty-four percent of group 1 had cavitated lesions in any permanent molar versus 12.8 percent in groups 2 and 3 combined (p>. 05).Conclusions-Evaluation confirms the outcome of a program including both in-school twice-daily toothbrushing with fluoridated toothpaste and frequent applications of fluoride varnish.

Anticariogenic effect of xylitol versus fluoride – a quantitative systematic review of clinical trials

“…Four articles included chewing gum as the main form of clinical application 30–33 . One article reported combined results for the xylitol and fluoride group in comparison with a third group with no intervention 28 .…”

“…Twelve articles were included for further review [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] . Of these, six were accepted [22][23][24][25][26][27] and six excluded [28][29][30][31][32][33] . The reason for the exclusion of one article 29 was a lack of computable data (no SD of investigated endpoint per group reported).…”

“…Four articles included chewing gum as the main form of clinical application [30][31][32][33] . One article reported combined results for the xylitol and fluoride group in comparison with a third group with no intervention 28 . Table 2 describes the characteristics of the accepted articles and the DSs derived from the results presented.…”

Escovagem de dentes em ambiente escolar e cárie dentária: Um estudo de coorte

“…5,19,20 Existe, no entanto, evidência da melhoria de comportamentos e redução da cárie dentária com intervenções com pais e crianças que visam a divulgação de conhecimentos de saúde oral [21][22][23] e a supervisão da escovagem em ambiente escolar. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Embora não estejam publicados estudos que demonstrem a efectividade desta estratégia na população portuguesa, ela tem sido recomendada pela Direcção-Geral da Saúde (DGS). No entanto, a prática tem mostrado alguma resistência por parte dos educadores na implementação da escovagem de dentes em meio escolar, 33 pelo que nos parece pertinente avaliar o seu efeito protector, tendo em conta os demais factores que influenciam a saúde oral em Portugal.…”

Effectiveness of Xylitol in Caries Prevention

“…Alternatively, xylitol can be introduced into the oral environment of kindergarten and school children in the form of a gummy-bear snack [28][29][30]. Ly et al [29] evaluated the efficiency of the administration 3 times a day of such snacks containing doses of xylitol, in total reaching up to 15.9 g and 11.7 g, and 44.7 g maltitol, on the levels of S. mutans, S. sobrinus and Lactobacilli spp.…”