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The caries preventing effect of mouthrinsing with 0.025% sodium fluoride solution in Swedish children
Author(s) -
Forsman Britta
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1974.tb00004.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dentistry , molar , sodium fluoride , fluoride , inorganic chemistry , chemistry
Weekly mouthrinses with 0.2% NaF solution have long been carried out with schoolchildren in Växjö, where the water fluoride (F) content is less than 0.2 parts/10 6 . A weaker NaF solution has been tested over a 2‐year period in a double‐blind experiment. A group of 135 children aged 12‐13 years used a 0.025% NaF solution as a weekly mouth‐rinse, while a control group of an equal number of children in the same age group continued weekly rinses with 0.2% NaF solution. Clinical and radiographic caries registration was carried out at the start of the experiment, after 1 year and after 2 years. The loss of participants totalled only 17 children during the 2 years. The results showed fewer new carious surfaces in the groups treated with the weaker solution. The total number of clinically recorded new carious surfaces did not differ statistically between the groups, and the fraction of smooth surface caries showed a significant difference at the 5 % level only in the groups of girls. Radiographically recorded carious proximal surfaces on premolars and molars showed the same trend with fewer new carious surfaces in the groups treated with the weaker solution. The retention of F from mouthrinsing with the weaker solution by children 4 and 6 years of age averaged 0.23 and 0.15 mg, respectively, from 7 ml of solution. In addition to the principal interest inherent in the finding that a weaker NaF solution may have a greater caries preventive effect than a more concentrated solution, the result is of practical significance particularly for F applications for preschool children with their incomplete control of swallowing reflexes and for local treatment in areas with optimal or supraoptimal F content in the drinking water.