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A comparison of four home‐care fluoride programs on the caries incidence in the elderly
Author(s) -
Fure S.,
Gahnberg L.,
Birkhed D.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
gerodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1741-2358
pISSN - 0734-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-2358.1998.00051.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , fluoride , dentistry , pediatrics , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , physics , optics
Objective : To estimate the caries preventive effect of 4 fluoride programs over 2 years in the elderly. Setting : The Public Dental Clinics of Balsta and Knivsta and the Faculty of Odontology in Göteborg, Sweden Subjects : One hundred and sixty‐four individuals, aged 60 years and older (mean age 71.5 years) who were considered to be at risk from caries. Design : The participants were randomly assigned either to: 1) rinse twice a day with a 0.05% NaF solution (n=49; rinsing group ), 2) suck twice a day on a 1.66 mg NaF tablet (n=51; tablet group ). 3) brush their teeth three times a day using a toothpaste slurry rinsing technique (n=32; slurry group ), or 4) brush their teeth in their usual manner (n=32; control group ). The participants in all 4 groups used a fluoride toothpaste (containing 0.32% NaF) at least twice daily. Results : No new carious lesions were found in 67% of the participants in the rinsing, 43% in the tablet, 25% in the slurry and 16% in the control group over the 2 years. The mean (± SD) 2‐year caries increment was 0.8±1.4, 1.4±1.7, 1.9±1.9 and 2.3±2.1 DFS in the rinsing, tablet, slurry and control groups, respectively; it was significantly lower in the rinsing than in the control group (p<0.01). A lower incidence of DFS was also found in the tablet group than in the slurry group, but only for the lingual surfaces (p<0.05). Conclusion : The type of fluoride program may be of importance in the reduction of new caries lesions in an older population.