The Adoption and Implementation of the Fluoride Mouthrinse Program: Descriptive Results from School Districts*

Abstract

Systematic research is needed about the dissemination and use of effective caries prevention measures to establish adoption trends and to examine factors related to desired practice. This paper examines the adoption and implementation of the fluoride mouthrinse program (FMRP) in public school districts. It extends a similar study by Silversin and Coombs in 1979 by reporting telephone interview data from the same sample of school districts. The results indicate that the extent of FMRP adoption has increased since 1979, but that the recent rate of new adopters has slowed considerably. About one-quarter of the districts that had ever offered the FMRP have since discontinued it, most frequently by gradual abandonment. The reported accuracy of school level implementation was assessed in terms of seven required components of the FMRP. Only 57 percent of the sample reported implementing six or seven components correctly, showing at best only moderate accuracy of delivery at the local level.