Prevention in kindergartens with 500  ppm XXXX toothpaste-a randomized clinical trial.

@entity1 @entity1388 @entity5482
OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of an intensified preventive programme in kindergartens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two thousand two hundred twenty-eight 2- to 4-year-old @entity1 attending kindergartens in two counties in northern Hesse were randomly allocated to two groups. @entity1 in the test group participated in daily tooth brushing with 500  ppm @entity1388 toothpaste, which was supervised by specially trained dental nurses. @entity1 in the control group received tooth brushing instructions three to four times a year. Caries experience was recorded using WHO criteria. The basic survey was performed from October 2006 to April 2007, with the final examinations between March and July 2009. The statistical evaluation was performed by means of the software package SPSS 17.0. To compare the mean   dmf values of the test and control groups, Mann-Whitney U tests were performed. RESULTS: Two thousand one hundred twelve @entity1 (test group, 1096; control group, 1048) participated in the final examinations. The caries increment of the test group (  dmf-s   =   1.55) was 24  % lower than the increment of the control group (  dmf-s   =   2.02, p   =   0.043). Based on   dmf-t values, the corresponding figures were 0.79 for the @entity5482 for the control group (p   =   0.44). High increment values (  dmf-s >7) were observed in the control group twice as often as in the test group. CONCLUSION: The results show that an intensified preventive programme in kindergartens, based on supervised daily tooth brushing, has a positive effect on the dental health of preschool @entity1 . CLINICAL RELEVANCE: It is sufficient to offer such programmes in socially deprived areas.
