Search

Objective: To investigate the oral health of 12-year-old children of different deprivation but similar fluoridation status from South Asian and White Caucasian ethnic groups., Design: An epidemiological survey of 12-year-old children using BASCD criteria, with additional tooth erosion, ethnic classification and postcode data., Clinical Setting: Examinations were completed in schools in Leicestershire and Rutland, England, UK. Participants A random sample of 1,753 12-year-old children from all schools in the study area., Main Outcome Measures: Caries experience was measured using the DMFT index diagnosed at the caries into dentine (D3) threshold, and tooth erosion using the index employed in the Children's Dental Health UK study reported in 1993., Results: The overall prevalence of caries was greater in White than Asian children, but varied at different levels of deprivation and amongst different Asian religious groups. There was a significant positive association between caries and deprivation for White children, but the reverse was true for non-Muslim Asians. White Low Deprivation children had significantly less tooth erosion, but erosion experience increased with decreasing deprivation in non-Muslim Asians., Conclusions: Oral health is associated with ethnicity and linked to deprivation on an ethnic basis. The intra-Asian dental health disadvantage found in the primary dentition of Muslim children is perpetuated into the permanent dentition.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to investigate the clinical use of two fluoride-releasing fissure sealants and to study fluoride release under laboratory conditions., Methods: In the clinical part of the study the two materials, FluroShield and Baseline, were applied to matched contralateral caries-free first permanent molars in 86 children aged 7-8 years. In the laboratory study fluoride release from each material was measured using a model cavity system., Results: After 3 years FluroShield was intact on 70% of teeth. Retention was significantly better on lower molars than upper molars. Baseline was lost from all except two teeth within 6 months. After 3 years, caries had affected four teeth sealed with FluroShield and 24 teeth sealed with Baseline; this difference was highly significant. The laboratory study showed that FluroShield released twice as much fluoride over 9 days than did Baseline. Long term studies using FluroShield showed a small steady fluoride release over 6 months., Conclusions: The conclusion of the study was that FluroShield was a much more effective fissure sealant than Baseline. The clinical performance of FluroShield was comparable to that of other inert composite resin sealants and superior to that of fluoride-releasing sealants used previously.

The dental caries experience of 6- and 12-year-old children in Jordan and England was compared. The 6-year-old Jordanian children had significantly higher dmft scores than the English children, largely due to the greater numbers of decayed teeth in Jordan. Mean DMFT scores for 12-year-old children were similar in the two countries, however, the DMFT totals included more decayed and missing teeth in Jordan and more filled teeth in England. In both countries there were significant differences between the caries experience of children from different social classes.